The home was purchased by the Crum family in the 1880s. Now, Plant City residents will be able to buy a piece of history.
Plant City history buffs will be able to purchase furniture, decorative items and home goods dating back to the late 1800s at a local estate sale this weekend.
From Thursday, Dec. 10, to Sunday, Dec. 13, residents can stop by the estate sale, held at the historic home at 1404 S. Collins St.
Hollie Clark, a descendant of the prominent Plant City Crum family, is selling most of the home’s furniture and household goods. The home, which rests on about 8.5 acres, was first purchased by David Lovett Crum, a Civil War veteran, in 1881— long before local businesses began popping up on the other side of the road.
The Crum family, who first moved to the United States from Holland in the 1750s, quickly became well-known throughout the area. David Lovett Crum’s son, David Rite Crum, carried mail from Tampa to Kissimmee for the railroad while it was being built. In addition to David Rite Crum’s work for the railroad, the Crum family was known for being pioneers and cattlemen in the area.
David Rite Crum’s nephews, Pete, Kenneth and Dwight “Goat” Crum lived at the house next door, 1304 Collins St. Clark still has a photo of the three nephews on horses. At that time, Goat Crum was thought to be the best horse rider in the county.
The nephews’ home has since been converted to Quality Furniture Consignment, but the family never sold the property at 1404 S. Collins St. This weekend, Clark will be selling furniture that she said has been in the home since it was purchased in the early 1880s.
Many of Clark’s ancestors were born in the front room of the house, including her father. All of the family’s wakes and funerals were held in the adjoining room.
Though Clark is hosting the estate sale this weekend, she has yet to put the home in the market, however, the family will talk to interested buyers.
“I’m not really ready to list it,” Clark said.
About the Sale
The company hired to run the sale is Alexander Julius Estate Sales & Appraisals, a business that has been in the same family for three generations. Alexander Julius Jr., also known as AJ, is the business’s current owner.
“We work as a family and treat each other as family,” Julius said. “Every sale has different items. Not a single thing has the same items.”
Employee Bob Pierce works with a team to research the home’s antique items, signs, swords and other sale items. The items are affordable, Pierce said.
“If somebody wants to buy a piece of furniture, now is the their only opportunity after 100 years to buy a piece of history,” Pierce said.
Pierce has enjoyed finding pieces that originally belonged to the family. Items for sale include German steins, a collection of coffee grinders and chocolate molds, compact purses and beaded jewelry that dates back to the Flapper era, and period furniture, including a Heywood Wakefield table with paper labels, a chair that belonged to Ella Rosa Crum and a hand-carved drawer-front secretary desk, which was the home’s first piece of furniture. The desk still has its original mirror.
“There’s everything from the 1800s to modern time,” Pierce said.
The company is expecting between 1,000 and 1,500 people to come to the estate sale over the four-day period. There is no preview sale.
For those who arrive to the sale early, they can fill out a sign-in sheet to hold their spot in line. The sale will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.
