By Wendell Nelson

Plover’s Greek temple of a house had nine more owners after Judge Cate sold it in 1851. Some of them, like Cate, owned it for only a year or two, while others owned it for many years, until it was named after them: “the Drake house” and “the Potts house.” And some apparently never lived in it, but used it as rental property.

Judge Miner Strope (1806-1880) owned the Greek Temple house from 1876 to 1880. His widow, Ursula Wilmot Strope, later owned it twice: from 1880 to 1881, and for five months in 1886.
(Contributed photo)

But all became part of its history and the history of Plover Village and Town. The next five of those owned the house from 1851 to 1904.

According to Warranty Deed Volume A, page 566, dated Feb. 10, 1851, George W. Cate sold his house to Homer Drake and his apparent wife, whose name is illegible on the deed. The Drakes paid Cate $1,400 for the house and lots, $200 more than Cate paid for them less than two years earlier.

Homer Drake owned the house until he died March 8, 1872, at the age of 55. No obituary on him has come to light so far, but his gravestone in the Plover Cemetery says that he served in the Union Army’s famed Iron Brigade. He enlisted as a private on July 17, 1861, and resigned on Feb. 11, 1863. During his service, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant Aug. 17, 1861, and to Captain May 24, 1862.

The Rice-Cate-Potts house in Plover Village, showing architectural details: fluted (grooved) columns and dentils (little teeth). The photo is undated, and the women are unidentified.
(Contributed photo)

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