Originally house had a large hall, living room, parlor, dining room, kitchen and pantry on the first floor. The second floor had four bedrooms, bath, den and large hall. All floors were of hard wood and walls had much beautiful fresco work. Leary purchased property in 1893 at Third Avenue South and Seventh Street which had a small house on the lot. This remained until 1901 when it was moved to Second Avenue South and Third Street to make way for the large Leary home. Leary, a native of Boston, Mass., came to Waverly, Iowa, with his parents and remained there until 1893 when he moved to Fort Dodge. On arrival here he purchased property at the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Seventh Street and established a grocery store there. He operated this store until 1903 when fire destroyed the building. Leary then purchased a building across the street on the north side of Central Avenue and opened another grocery store which he continued to operate until 1910 when he sold the business to Tom Welch. Ownership of the building continued in Leary’s name. Leary was married in 1892 to Ellen Foley and they were parents of two sons—John A. Leary and Dennis E. Leary, both of whom reside in Fort Dodge. The elder Leary died in 1910 at age 48. Mrs. Leary died in 1950 at age 91. The Learys had a large barn at the rear of their home where they kept horses, a surrey with fringe on the top and the wagon used for delivering groceries to customers in the city. One of the owners of the Leary home after it was sold was Dr. W. E. Alton who had a private hospital and office there. His hobby was boat building and he built a number of boats. THE MERRITT HOME [Illustration: The Merritt home 1119 6th Avenue North] The large two-story brick home at 1119 6th Ave. N.—with huge columns supporting a canopy extending across the front of the house—was built in 1914 by a Fort Dodge real estate dealer and insurance representative. Known for several years as the Merritt home because it was owned by W. N. Merritt, it later was known as the Faville home, the Thompson home and the Barrett home. Since 1961 it has been owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Anver Habhab and family. The house has four rooms on the first floor—living room, den, dining room and kitchen; the second floor has four bedrooms and bath and the attic also has one bedroom. The Merritt family resided in the home from the time it was built in 1914 until early in 1918 when it was sold to Fredrick F. Faville, a Fort Dodge attorney who came to the city from Storm Lake.