What if you want to hang a shelf in a spot where there’s no stud? First, check to see if your wall is made of drywall or plaster by knocking lightly on the wall. If it sounds hollow, it’s drywall.

And that's where my story comes in. Several places around the U.S. claim to be the site of the first residential drywall installation. One of the earliest is Colonial Hills in Ohio, a neighborhood ...