The duplex was built in 1858 by brothers Jacob and William Albright, who had moved to Fort Madison in 1839 from Philadelphia. They patterned their house after the design of a double Italianate residence found in Samuel Sloan'sThe Model Architect (1852).[3] The three-story brick house follows a cross-shaped plan. The watertable, lintels and window sills are all stone. It has a wide, overhanging cornice that is decorated with dentils and paired brackets with pendants. The entrance porch for each unit was built into the front angles of the structure. The house was known locally as the Betsy Ross House because Jacob Albright was married to Rachel Wilson, a granddaughter of Betsy Ross.[3]
