City of Blue Island Think Outside the Loop
Although today much altered, this large but simply constructed home was first built in 1836 as a Court House in Liverpool, Indiana. When the county seat moved to Crown Point, Carlton Wadhams had the building taken apart and sent by raft down the Calumet River to Blue Island where, in 1844, it was erected on the northwest corner of Western Avenue and Vermont Street as the American House Tavern.
During the building of the I&M feeder canal the American House was a favorite stopping place for the contractors and bosses engaged on the work. At the close of the Civil War the building was used as a home for old soldiers.
When the American House was dismantled in the 1890s, Jacob Link had the building cut in two and moved half to this site, where he remodeled it into a home.
The Wadhams family was buried in Blue Island Cemetery, at the corner of Burr Oak and Highland Avenues – better known today as Memorial Park.
continue the tour –> 14. Wade Errett House
Photo Credits: Christine L. Hawley
