On the night of February 14, 1907, several residents of a town documented an unusual claim: a wooden dwelling seemed to change position by a few inches each night. Newspaper clippings and municipal notes from the period—while not unanimous—show that the matter attracted local attention and discussion among neighbors, surveyors and journalists. Context and observations Contemporary reports indicate the house in question was a modest wood-frame structure typical of early 20th-century small-town America. Neighbors said they noticed small shifts in the alignment of fence posts, gate latches and the position of the house relative to a nearby stone marker. Measurements were apparently taken by locals using plumb lines, tape and chained survey lines; some accounts recorded nightly differences on the order of “a few inches.” Possible explanations discussed at the time Those reporting on the phenomenon and local officials considered several explanations, none of which were conclusively proven in surviving sources: - Ground movement: Seasonal soil settling, frost heave, or slow subsidence can produce small changes in a building’s position. In regions with variable winter freeze-thaw cycles, wooden foundations set on shallow footings can shift gradually. - Measurement error and landmarks: Early-20th-century measuring tools and informal measurement practices could produce apparent movement where none existed. If reference markers (fence posts, stones) were themselves loosened or reset, relative comparisons would mislead observers. - Structural factors: A building on an inadequate foundation, with uneven loads or rot in sill beams, can settle unevenly, changing apparent alignment at certain points while the overall footprint remains effectively unchanged. - Human factors and folklore: Local storytelling and repeated reports can amplify perceptions of unusual events. Newspapers of the era sometimes printed sensational or lightly verified local curiosities to attract readers. Investigations and outcomes No comprehensive engineering report from the period survives in the public record to definitively identify one cause. Accounts vary in reliability: some are brief newspaper items that repeat neighbors’ statements; others are municipal notes noting complaints about shifting fences or needed repairs. Where later follow-up exists in archives, it typically records repairs to foundations or fence posts rather than confirmation of nightly, systematic house movement. Historical perspective Reports like the 1907 episode reflect a combination of everyday building problems in an era before modern foundations and a civic culture in which local curiosities were widely discussed in print. Today, the most plausible explanations remain ordinary geological or structural causes, measurement error, or a mixture of both. Absent a preserved technical survey from the time, the claim that the house “moved several inches every night” should be treated as reported contemporaneous observation rather than an established physical fact. What survives in the record Primary sources for the event are local newspapers and municipal correspondence from early 1907; these provide the basis for the summary above but do not offer a conclusive forensic account. Historians and engineers examining similar historical reports emphasize caution: small nightly variations can often be traced to seasonal or structural processes, while dramatic narratives tend to reflect a mix of observation and local storytelling. Conclusion The February 14, 1907, reports of a house moving several inches nightly remain an intriguing local episode documented in period sources. Contemporary explanations proposed at the time and modern understanding of building behavior suggest mundane geological, structural or measurement-related causes are likeliest, but the absence of definitive technical documentation from 1907 means the episode remains inconclusively explained in the historical record.