National and State Registers of Historic Places
Hazlett-Hurd House
820 NW Third Street
Abilene (Dickinson County)
Listed in State Register
May 14, 2011
Architect: Unknown
Category: domestic
The Hazlett-Hurd House, built in 1887 and redesigned in the 1920s, is located along a primary residential thoroughfare west of downtown Abilene. The house is named for two locally prominent men who lived in the home at different periods – Dr. Edward Hazlett and Arthur Hurd. Hazlett, who operated a busy medical practice and opened Abilene’s first hospital, built the house in 1887. His son Swede was a high school classmate and lifelong friend of Dwight Eisenhower’s, who later credited Swede with convincing him to apply for an appointment to the Naval Academy, and when that did not materialize, to West Point. Local attorney and Abilene mayor Arthur Hurd purchased the house in 1916, and by the mid-1920s had significantly expanded the house to provide more parlor and bedroom space. After the renovation, the front porch featured simple porch columns and an adjacent pergola reflecting the more subdued Colonial Revival style. Importantly, though, it retained many Queen Anne stylistic features, too, including decorative wood shingles within the gables, the irregular footprint and roofline, interior woodwork, and general room arrangement. As a result, the house reflects two periods of development – the late 1880s and the mid-1920s – and the tastes of both the Hazletts and the Hurds. Today, the residence functions as a bed-and-breakfast. It was nominated for its social history and architecture.
