Looking Back: Preserving Our Past
The entrance door of this narrow stone house apparently has been altered twice. The original doorway probably was lower, with a small transom window above it. Later, perhaps in the 1840s, it appears the lintel was raised, a larger transom window installed and sidelights added. The present doorway shows a Twentieth Century change when the door opening was narrowed and the sidelights replaced by wood siding. Location: LR 62129 at 62194, Deemston Borough.
The Hess House, dating from the early Nineteenth Century, still has its original windows, door (covered in this photo) and much interior woodwork. The stairway has delicate Federal-style urns atop each newel post. The front porch and a two-story brick ell at the rear are mid-Nineteenth Century additions. Location: T587 one-half mile west of Route 917, Fallowfield Township.
The Isaac VanVoorhis house, build circa 1820, shows remarkable sophistication. The cornice ... continues across the gable ends. The doorway architrave has pilasters on each side and is surmounted by an outsized keystone. The windows retain their original twelve-over-twelve pane sashes (difficult to see here because of storm windows). The Victorian porch was added circa 1880. At the rear is a one-room stone wing which legend says was built by Abraham Decker before 1785. Location: Route 481, one mile southwest of Monongahela, Carroll Township.
612 Main St. in Monongahela is listed as a Victorian house in the book, and is located in the Main Street Historic District.
In 1975, the Washington County History and Landmarks Foundation published a book called “Preserving Our Past: Landmark Architecture of Washington County, Pennsylvania.” The photographs in the book were taken by Observer Publishing Company photographers, including H. Benjamin Hutchinson, J. Charles Wilson, James E. Fuller and Jim McNutt. While hunting in our photo archives for images to use for this very page, we came across a weathered manila envelope with “History & Landmarks 1975” written in pen on it. The images on this page can all be found in the book, and the book can be found – albeit well worn – in local libraries. The images were likely taken in 1974 or 1975. The captions on this page are the same captions from the book.