The house has double-wall concrete construction, giving it both exceptional structural strength and an insulating air space between the two walls. Wood forms were made for the walls and concrete poured into them. Facing of the exterior concrete walls is unique. Instead of making the walls flat, Collins devised forms so that the poured concrete would simulate wood siding. This gave the house an outward appearance of an ordinary wood siding frame home. The unusual features attracted considerable interest among those associated with home construction. The Collins family moved into the home after it was completed and lived there until 1917 and then moved to 1245 5th Ave. N. which has since been the Collins home. The concrete home which presently has two apartments is now owned by Hubert McMahon, 1129 S. 17th St. A brother of E. W. Collins was Tom Collins who engineered and put into successful operation the first underground gypsum mine in the area. This was shortly before the turn of the century when he and others organized the Cardiff Gypsum Plaster Company. E. W. Collins was married in 1900 to Alice Quealy and about that time started a retail coal business in the city which he operated until his retirement in 1937. He died in 1945 at age 77; Mrs. Collins died in 1961 at age 88. The Collins were parents of three children—two sons and a daughter. They were Edwin, deceased; Allan of Fort Dodge; and Kathleen of Rochester, Minn. Allan and his wife reside in the family home at 1245 5th Ave. N. They are parents of 11 children. Allan retired from postal service several years ago and is now employed in the office of Iowa Beef Processors here. THE SMITH HOME One of Fort Dodge’s first city commissioners under the present form of government owned and resided in this home at 1205 5th Ave. S. for a number of years after acquiring it in 1910. He was C. H. (Cad) Smith, public safety commissioner from 1911 until his death in 1919. He was elected to the city council when the commission form of government was adopted. Elected at that time with Smith were John F. Ford, mayor; and Frank W. Collins, streets commissioner. The large frame house was erected in 1891 by Charles B. Hepler, a well-known contractor here for many years. He was also associated with David Brown in the Fort Dodge Planing Mill. The lot at the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue South and Twelfth Street was part of a tract of land purchased in 1861 by John F. Duncombe, pioneer attorney and industrialist. Smith purchased the house in 1910 from E. J. Breen and it remained in possession of the Smith family until 1948 when it was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Walter B. Cooper. At that time Cooper, a plumber, converted the house into a duplex dwelling and the apartments have since been rented out.