2315 Union

In 1883 Joshua Gibson, an English immigrant and railroad carpenter and coach builder, bought 4 lots at the corner of Union and Sawyer.  He lived on the corner lot at 2317 Union in a house that no longer exists.  The lot was sold to the city for street construction in 1968.  The gable-front extended shotgun cottage at 2315 Union was probably built in 1894 or earlier by Joshua Gibson as a tenant house.  It and the house in which Joshua Gibson lived were inherited by his daughter Minnie and her husband Joseph H. Caniff, who worked for the railroad as a fireman.  2315 Union was rental property until 1961.  Leon Washington bought it in 1961 and owned it until 1995; Elvia Washington lived there from about 1957 until 1977. 

For additional historical details click here.