Henry B. Clarke House

Infobox_nrhp | name =Henry B. Clarke House
nrhp_type =

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caption = Antebellum daguerrotype of the Clarke House
location= 1827 S. Indiana Ave.
Chicago, Illinois, USA
lat_degrees = | lat_minutes = | lat_seconds = | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = | long_minutes = | long_seconds = | long_direction = W
area =
built =circa 1836
architecture= Gothic Revival
added = 1971
governing_body = Private/Chicago Architecture Foundation
refnum=71000290 cite web|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/IL/Cook/state2.html|title=ILLINOIS - Cook County |date=2007-06-26|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Henry B. Clarke House is a Greek Revival style house in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The house was built in circa 1836 by a local contractor, probably John Rye, who later married the Clarkes' housemaid, Betsy. Clarke House may have been modeled on the home of William B. Ogden.cite news | title = The Clarke House | work = Chicago Tribune | pages = 8 | publisher = Chicago Tribune | date = 1872-05-26 | accessdate = 2007-07-06 ] The Clarke house is believed to be the oldest surviving house in Chicago.cite book | last = Wolfe | first = Gerard R. | authorlink = Gerard R. Wolfe | title = Chicago: In and Around the Loop | publisher = McGraw-Hill | date =1996 | pages = 337 | isbn = 0070713901] It was designated a Chicago Landmark on October 14, 1970. [cite web|url=http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/C/ClarkeHouse.html|title=Clarke House|publisher=City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division|date=2003|accessdate=2007-06-26] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 06 1971.

Originally built on 20 and 8/100 acres of land near Michigan Avenue between 16th and 17th Streets is currently located at 1827 S. Indiana, near its original location.cite book | last = McNulty | first = Elizabeth | authorlink = Elizabeth McNulty | title = Chicago: Then and Now | publisher = Thunder Bay Press | date = 2000 | pages = 51 | isbn = 1571452788] Clarke's decision to build south of the River made him the first wealthy Chicagoan to build there. Clarke suffered severe financial setbacks during the Panic of 1837 and used the surrounding land for farming and hunting. This setback resulted in a delay in the completion of the south rooms of his house.cite news | title = The Clarke House | work = Chicago Tribune | pages = 8 | publisher = Chicago Tribune | date = 1872-06-09 | accessdate = 2007-07-06 ] Clarke died in 1849 after being stricken with cholera.. Since that time, the house has also been known as the "Widow Clarke House" after his wife, Caroline Palmer Clarke, who lived until 1860.

After her husband's death, Caroline Palmer Clarke established "Clarke's addition to Chicago" by selling all but convert|3|acre|m2 of the original land that went with the house. She used this money to support her family and renovate her house, adding an elaborate back portico with Doric columns, much like the original portico facing the lake. The new porch faced the newly gaslit Michigan Avenue. At the same time, she added an Italianate cupola and decorated her dining room and front parlor, which remained unfinished from the time of the family's financial setbacks.cite news | title = The Clarke House | work = Chicago Tribune | pages = 8 | publisher = Chicago Tribune | date = 1872-06-09 | accessdate = 2007-07-06 ]

The house was first moved to 45th Street and Wabash Avenue in 1872. When the house was being moved, a packet of papers was discovered that Clarke had apparently buried when building the house. The packet contained a memorial to President Martin van Buren recommending Henry Clarke for a job, tax receipts, newspapers of the day, and a statement in henry Clarke's handwriting, stating, "I, Henry B. Clarke, am an ardent Democrat." While on the new site, the building housed the St. Paul Church of God in Christ for more than thirty years.

In 1977, the City of Chicago purchased the house and moved it to its current location, a project that included lifting the entire building over the El tracks on the Englewood-Jackson Park line. It was a cold December night and the hydraulic equipment responsible for holding up the house froze. For two weeks, the house sat on the El tracks until it could be moved to its new (and current) home at 1827 S. Indiana.

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