Preserving the past Waynesburg native gets to roots of historic architecture

Mary Beth Pastorius does not want to make history in Waynesburg. She wants to preserve it.
“One of my biggest efforts here is educating people on the value of old buildings,” she said. “Some say there are three historic buildings and the rest are old (and not worth rehabilitation). That’s not true. The history of buildings tells the stories of the people here.”
It also is the impetus for Pastorius’ return to her roots, and to her family’s deep roots. She lives in Sewickley, an hour north in Allegheny County, but has established a business – Pastorius Historic Properties – in the Greene County seat in which she grew up.
This is where she advocates – and practices – building preservation. And where she purchased two High Street structures she continues to rehab. And where two siblings still reside.
And where a generous portion of her heart remains.
“I’m trying to give back to my hometown,” said the woman who, as Mary Beth Morgan, was the oldest of eight children. She graduated from Waynesburg High School in 1967.
“I’ve always loved history and architecture, but until I came back, I didn’t realize that my love for both started in this town.”
Love of both pursuits can be fostered easily there. The Waynesburg Historic District is a national historic district encompassing 183 buildings,
Strolling along High Street Wednesday, on an uncharacteristically balmy afternoon, Pastorius said about two dozen pre-Civil War buildings have been identified in the town. Two are hers.
She and her husband, Tom – now deceased – acquired the first in November 2006, a three-story, 14,000-square-foot structure for which they paid $36,000 at a sheriff’s sale. Pastorius calls it the Hook-Morgan Building, after John T. Hook, the late 19th-century owner, and her father, Richard Morgan.
They bought the second in August 2007 for $7,000 at a judicial sale. It’s called the Ganiear House, a circa 1846 building that was unoccupied at the time and where a lot of work is ahead.
The Hook-Morgan rehab, at the corner of Morgan Street, has been ongoing for seven years, and it is far along. General contractor Bill Whitlatch and McMurray architect Ken Kulak have been linchpins in its change.
Along the way, the owner found a sign proclaiming “J. Hook Harnesses” – Hook’s harness-making business. The sign is weather-beaten, but a keeper for Pastorius.
Seven apartments and four commercial spaces now occupy this structure, which essentially is in three parts. Tenants include the Peacock Keller & Ecker law firm, which was there when the Pastoriuses purchased, and the Community Foundation of Greene County, a nonprofit. A stained-glass shop is no longer in the middle quadrant.
Records indicated the building dated to 1870, when Hook was the owner, but Pastorius found that it underwent an expansion at that time. She also discovered that it was sturdier than the proverbial tank.
“Every wall dividing the bays of this building is three bricks thick,” she said. “They built to last here.”
She has been researching buildings for more than 30 years, including Waynesburg structures since 2008. Yet her familiarity with the Hook-Morgan edifice goes back more than a half-century. As a little girl, she watched her father and brothers get their locks shorn in the lower-level barber shop.
That is where her business office is, although this frequent commuter jokes, “My office is my car.”
Rehabbing parts of her original hometown have been gratifying. But the costs, she admits, have been formidable.
“My husband said there is nothing more expensive than a cheap building in Waynesburg,” Pastorius said, laughing.
She is a 33-year resident of Sewickley, where she and Tom raised two sons. Pastorius’ life travels have been extensive and interesting. She graduated from Penn State and taught home economics in Maryland and Colorado and for Department of Defense schools in Germany before delving into the world of preservation.
Pastorius also has been a beer baroness. Her husband founded Penn Brewery on Pittsburgh’s North Side in 1986, the first craft brewer in Pennsylvania. The couple owned and managed it for nearly 20 years before selling. Tom died in 2012.
Mary Beth does spend a lot of time in Sewickley and Allegheny County, where her affinity for history and architecture extend to being on the board of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. But she embraces her roots and partakes of them frequently.
“I’m proud of my long Greene County heritage,” she said, adding her mother, whose maiden name was Wiley, descended from part of the original group of county settlers.
Kin still reside in the region, and the family name is visible. Two Waynesburg University facilities bear her uncles’ names: John F. Wiley Stadium and Robert C. Wiley Armory. And, of course, two High Street buildings bear her signature on legal papers.
Her Waynesburg initiatives aren’t limited to Pastorius Historic Properties. She has led bus tours of the borough, has cobbled together a PowerPoint of photos of borough architecture she presents to various groups and is in the midst of launching a blog, waynesburgmatters.blogspot.com.
History. Architecture. Home. For Mary Beth Morgan Pastorius, it’s a fortuitous blend of three of her greatest passions.
“I knew coming into town, with 30 years of experience in preservation, that I could do this. It’s a labor of love here two or three days a week.”