Morrisville Town Center Plan - 2007

Appendix 2

7. Ellis Rooming House

103 S. Page Street When Samuel Horne built a knitting mill in Morrisville the Town’s quickly expanding workforce needed housing. William and Fanny Penny, owners of the house that would later come to be known as the Ellis Rooming House, were quick to meet the need. In 1910, their tenants included newlyweds James and Bessie Gunley, Betting Stallings, age 15, and Sallie Myals, age 20. All were presumably hard at work in the mill and likely sent part of their wages back to families on farms. While some of the mill workers rented rooms from the Pennys, others lived in small houses built for them by Horne. The Ellis Rooming House has experienced some cosmetic changes, including the removal of its two-story front porch, but it retains much of its original interior features.

Photo by Ernest Dollar

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63 │ Town Center Plan

January 2007