Forging a new future
Golden Hammer winner is a tribute to family’s memory of duplex, blacksmith shop
By Michelle Brooks mbrooks@newstribune.com
Tucked behind a commercial building facing Jefferson Street, the family home of F. Joe DeLong II flashes from Ashley Street with its fresh paint, new roof and cleared trees. The late businessman’s wife, B.J. DeLong, organized the two-year renovations as a tribute to the family memories from the duplex and the blacksmith’s shop next door. The Historic City of Jefferson has recognized that preservation effort as the May Golden Hammer Award recipient. “The renovation is special not only because it adds to the neighborhood, but because it preserves an interesting part of Jefferson City history,” said chairman Deedie Bedoski. “The house, which a few months ago looked weatherbeaten and neglected, now looks vital and inviting. “It is exciting that the DeLong family has chosen to refurbish this family home and share its history with the community.” Although F. Joe DeLong II built DeLong’s Inc., metalfabricating industry, into a multimillion-dollar company, the duplex and shop represent more than his childhood home. His parents, Fred and Mary Schwartzrock DeLong, first moved into the duplex at 108 Atchison St. in 1912, leaving their St. Thomas home to open a blacksmith shop. His grandparents, Joseph and Mary Mayens DeLong, moved into the other side, leaving behind their farms on the Osage River. F. Joe DeLong II was born in that clapboard-sided duplex in 1920 and by 1931, he was helping with his father’s blacksmithing business. The shop transitioned in the 1930s from serving primarily horse and wagons to cars, adding two gasoline pumps. “During the Depression, things got pretty rough for the family,” B.J. DeLong said. Throughout the years, the family paid off the home and mortgaged it again to keep afloat, she said. At the age of 18, F. Joe DeLong II won a welding contest in Wichita, Kan., which landed him a job with Clyde Cessna’s at Cessna Aircraft Co. in 1938. Just four years later, he was the plant superintendent at Cessna’s newest plant in Hutchinson, Kan. However, as a devoted family man, F. Joe DeLong II and his new wife, B.J., left a promising career to return to Jefferson City when his father’s health and business were failing. In 1944, they moved into the duplex beside his parents, where they lived for two years. They had a rocky start, as his newly-purchased welding equipment was stolen from the shop next door not long after they returned, she remembered. While the businessman was building DeLong’s Inc. at 1818 Jefferson St., B.J. DeLong was not only helping keep the business’ books but refinishing floors and updating the interior of the duplex. “That experience growing up in the blacksmith business, then at Cessna Aircraft, that was significant to incorporating DeLong’s and starting a steel-fabricating business,” B.J. DeLong said. “Everything Joe learned and inspired him to become a multimillion dollar fabricator came from that corner.” That’s why B.J. DeLong bought back the family property and instigated the improvements in 2008, with Lawrence Cook, DeLong’s Inc. drafting supervisor, and Dean Holtmeyer of St. Elizabeth. “They’re so innovative in their thinking; they’ve done a beautiful job with it all,” B.J. DeLong said. With big trees sagging over the roof that was in sad shape, the first improvement was to remove the trees and replace the roof. “We didn’t know what our end goal was, but we knew we had to fix the roof before anything else,” Cook said. After that, the outside received a full makeover with fresh paint, new gutters, a renovated front porch, young landscaping and a fence. “The whole complexion has changed dramatically,” Cook said. Then they headed inside. The interior had not been changed since the last of the family left there in the 1960s. Cook and his crew removed everything but the stud walls, rafters, second-story wood floors and a bath tub. They did restore the original wood trim. Because the home sat uninhabited for so long, it was not grandfathered into the city code exemptions, Cook noted. That presented the greatest difficulties for the entire project, he said. In addition to the new utility infrastructure inside the home, the project required new connections to the sewer line and water main. The duplex, which originally shared the upstairs bathroom, was converted to a single dwelling, though the two sets of stairs remain. “It’s turned out well; it looks incredibly nice,” Cook said. Although B.J. DeLong chose to restore the family home before learning of the Dunklin Street Properties improvements in the 100 block of East Dunklin, she is pleased to see the South Side making a comeback. “My only concern was that it be restored,” B.J. DeLong said. “It was Joe’s home place — he talked about how they borrowed and repaid on that place several times; he went to work so early in life there. “It was the right thing to do.” GOLDEN HAMMER AWARD
Joe DeLong, second from right and Mrs. Betty DeLong, stand in front of the old DeLong residence on W. Atchison Street. Alongside the DeLongs are Lawrence Cook and Dean Holtmeyer of Dean Holtmeyer Construction, whose company has done the remodeling work on the house. Julie Smith/News Tribune
