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Subject: Missing houses in Polk directory
Author: comstockhousesr
Date: Friday, May 23, 2014
Classification: Query
Surnames:

Has anyone seen a residential address "play peek-a-boo" in the Polk street directories?

In five out of eight Polk street directories between 1927 and 1953 there is no entry for that address. Not a "vacant" listing (as you sometimes see). No listing at all, except for the mid-1930s when it was occupied by its second owner.

The only clue I have is that the house was still under construction when the first owner died, although his widow lived at there a few more years (and can be spotted in the 1930 census) until it was repossessed during the Depression. The second owner also left it unfinished. This was a large, grand house, with frescoes and other artistic elements.

In sum: No listing of residential address in Polk for eight years. It appears in Polk for 3-4 years, then disappears again for about fifteen years.

My working theory is that the house was completely boarded up when it was unoccupied. If so, would the Polk directory just skip it?
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