NOTICE OF INVESTIGATION
Date: April 8, 2018
Time: 6:18 p.m.
Location / Address: 27650 Fairmount Road, Fairmount, Somerset Co.
Type of Incident: Fire
Description of Structure / Property: Three story wood frame single family dwelling
Owner / Occupants: Jennifer McShane (Owner) Lawrence Ordway (Occupant)
Injuries or Deaths: See below
Estimated $ Loss: Structure: $50,000 Contents: $10,000
Smoke Alarm Status: Present, unknown if activated
Fire Alarm / Sprinkler Status: n/a
Arrests(s): None
Primary Responding Fire Department: Fairmount VFD
# of Alarms: 1 # Of Firefighters: 25
Time to Control: 90 minutes
Discovered By: Occupant
Area of Origin: Undetermined
Preliminary Cause: Undetermined
Additional Information: Occupant sustained minor burns and was treated on scene by EMS.
Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties
ReplyDeleteS-57
Cook House
Inventory No: S-57
Preferred Name: Cook House
Other Name(s): Littleton Dorsey House
Address: 27650 Fairmount Road (MD 361), Upper Fairmount
County: Somerset
S-57
Cook House
Upper Fairmount
Private
c. 1800- 18 15
The Cook House is one of several turn-of-the 19th century houses that
stand on the Fairmount peninsula. In general house form and date, the
Cook House is similar to the brick farmhouse on Schoolridge Farm (S-60).
The mixed use of a Flemish bond gable end wall in a frame house is a
construction technique shared by nearby Tudor Hall (S-55). These construction
parallels suggest an important link• between houses built within the span of
two decades. Additional features worthy of note include large portions of
beaded weatherboarding and well-executed Federal period woodwork.
The Cook House stands on a tract of land known as "End of Strife" which
was transferred from Levin Tull to Littleton Dorsey in October of 1810 (T/572.)
From all indications this house was erected in the early years of the 19th
century by Levin Tull or most probably, Littleton Dorsey. A description in
Q..
the 1798 Federal Tax Assessment suggestsAdifferent structure; "one dwelling
house built of wood 25 feet by 20 feet, 1 window 312 feet by 2 feet." This
does not describe the extant house. In all likelihood, materials from the
old house were reused in the construction of this house.
Littleton Dorsey occupied the farm and is listed on the 1850 U.S. Census
as a farmer with an estate valuation of $1500. Shortly after, Littleton
Dorsey died intestate,and his property entered Circuit Court (WP 2/323.)
Under the auspices of the court, the property was sold to Wesley Tull in 1853.
Eight months later Wesley S. Tull of Baltimore sold the farm to William J. H.
Tull of Somerset County. (LW 3/77) The Tulls held onto the property until
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-
5-57
2
1880 when Robert H. Jones bought the farm (B.F.L 3/210.) For the next eightythree
years the Jones owned the "Tull Farm," as it is yc,ferred to in the
early 20th century land records.