Watertown History Museum - Klimpke House
Postcard of "The Elms"
The Watertown History Museum
The story of this home and its occupants is the American dream come to life. Paul Kilmpke was born in Germany in 1868 and immigrated to America in 1884. He became a teacher, fell in love and married Julia Heminway. Julia’s father Buell Heminway (owner of the Heminway & Bartlett in Watertown) deeded this house to Paul in 1897 while it was still under construction, a month before the wedding.
“The Elms” was a beautiful and stately home located on the site of the current xxx. It was built by industrialist General Merritt Heminway for his son Buell. In this photo it was decked out for the nation’s centennial. This beautiful home was leveled by a deliberately set explosion in September of 1982.
General Heminway was the first person to ever wind silk thread on spools, which was necessary once the sewing machine was invented. It was the first factory built on that road. His son Buell went into business with a friend (Heminway & Bartlett), also located on Echo Lake Road.
Klimpke Family Photo
Paul and Julia raised four children in the house, while he pursued his career as a French and German instructor at Taft School. Four children were born to the Klimpke’s, and raised here: Julia; Gertrude; Buell; and Paul. This photo was taken on the front porch and includes Julia and Paul Klimpke (holding their daughter, Gertrude), Horace Taft (reading the paper) and his wife, Winnie, and two unknown faculty members.
In March of 1919, Julia Heminway Klimpke became a Visiting Nurse working with children in families through the Watertown Civic Union. Organized in December of 1918, this group met in the Community House to promote the best interests of the town along civic and social lines.
Paul died February 2, 1935, and Julia continued to live in the home until her death on December 25, 1944. The house passed from the Klimpke family in 1945 to Arthur Beach and then to various homeowners.
On Labor Day of 1982, a gas explosion at the house next door, which was the home of Julia’s parents, Buell Heminway and Julia Havens Heminway, damaged much of the building. Not a plaster wall survived and there was significant window and ceiling damage in this home. Despite all of that horrible destruction three magnificent stained glass windows somehow survived. The only ceiling that survived the explosion is in the front hall. The cathedral stained glass window in the bathroom was added by one of the homeowners after 1982.
Watertown History Museum
In 1992 the home was converted to commercial use, most recently by the Bozzuto Insurance agency until its purchase by the Watertown Historical Society in 2019.