401 N. 23rd Street (corner of 23rd & Gordon)

1958 - 1965: Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE)

This house, no longer standing, was referred to as the "White Elephant" around campus, and according to the 1965 Ciarla, the house had a basement staircase that was "difficult to navigate after a good time."

This three-story house at 401 N. 23rd Street (present-day location of the Keck House) was built in 1905 by Sallie and Kathryn Kistler. The Kistler Sisters came with their mother to Allentown in the summer of 1905 from their homestead in Kistler’s Valley and purchased the lot of land directly across from present-day East Hall. They built this house with the intention of taking in Muhlenberg students and staff as roomers and boarders, which proved a lucrative business for them from 1905 until 1944 when they sold the house to move back to their family homestead with their brother. Tom Kelley, Muhlenberg’s head football coach from 1911-1913, lived in the house and even got married in the living room. The sisters had a close relationship with members of the Muhlenberg community for nearly 40 years and said that their departure was bittersweet.

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