Ephraim Alexander McAuley House

According to family tradition, E. A. preferred to build the house out of logs, even though such construction was long out of favor. The McAuley farmhouse is one of seven pre-1900 two-story log houses identified in the county, and the only one erected after the Civil War. The logs for the house were acquired from neighbor Columbus McCoy (1834-1912). With the help of other neighbors, the McAuley House was raised in April 1881. The farm that the McAuley family operated on the original land produced wheat, corn, oats, cotton, peas, beans, Irish and sweet potatoes, butter, beeswax, and honey. They also raised cattle, horses, sheep, and hogs. At E. A. McAuley's death in 1909, the farm passed to his son John Ellis McAuley (1861-1929) who had moved into the family home sometime in the 1890s to care for his father.  

John Ellis McAuley was a well-known builder, master carpenter, and toolmaker in the Hopewell area. He built a number of houses in the Long Creek community that are still occupied today, including the Osborne House and the Lindsey Parks House. He also made the brick for and constructed St. Mark's Episcopal Church and its rectory. In 1914, John Ellis made extensive changes to the two-story McAuley House, including the wraparound turned-post front porch and interior mantels, doors, and staircase, giving the log house the appearance it has today. Because John Ellis usually stayed with the family for whom he was building a house, coming home only on weekends, and because he was not interested in farming, his wife Alice Eugenia Johnston McAuley successfully managed the farmstead. She continued to live at the farm after John Ellis's 1929 death until she passed away in 1960. Their son Murray McAuley (1900-1982) received the house and farm as an inheritance, and he continued to farm the land for the remainder of his life. As noted, development pressure – including construction of the outer belt highway route – ultimately forced relocation of the McAuley House.