A July 2021 photographic essay by Ethan Evitts of the last days of the William Evitts (1854-1928) and Sarah A. [Daniel] Evitts (1859-1925) Homestead in Specktown, Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
The William Evitts family lived here from about 1886 to 1926, when the property was sold to William’s son Frederick Evitts (1900-1937) and his wife Lura [Hess] Evitts (1900-1987). The homestead passed out of the family in 1930, when Fred and Lura sold the property to John Rothermel and his wife Sarah E. Rothermel.
The Evitts Homestead was located along Old Specktown Road, adjacent to the Riegle-Dietrich Homestead, which was demolished in 2020. When the Evitts family lived here, it became symbolically joined with the neighbor Riegle family through the marriage of William & Sarah’s son, Walter Evitts (1884-1965) and Mabel Riegle (1883-1964). In 1977, the land of the Evitts Homestead and the Riegle-Dietrich Homestead were joined when the owners of the former purchased the latter.
The main part of the house dates to about 1828 or before.
During the period after 1977 the house fell into great disrepair. It is not known when the house ceased to be a residence, but county tax records indicate that in 2019, it was repossessed by the Gratz Bank, and has had two owners since, neither of which concluded that the house was worth saving. Dismantling began shortly after, with an effort made to save what could be saved.
In the above photo, the front porch where many family photos were taken, is almost completely gone.
At some point a shed-like structure was attached to the rear of the house and was probably used as a kitchen. No interior layouts have been seen.
At the time these photos were taken, the windows had been removed but the basic form of the house was still intact.
The final photo shows the west-facing side of the house. The stop sign seen at right-center is for traffic exiting Old Specktown Road onto Specktown Road. A right turn (west) leads to Loyalton and a left turn leads to Gratz.
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Photos were taken by Ethan Evitts, the 3rd Great Grandson of William Evitts and Sarah [Daniel] Evitts who owned the property from 1886 to 1926. When Ethan heard the house was being dismantled and demolished, he traveled to Specktown to see it and photograph it in its last days.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.