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Security is a priority at area historic properties

5 min read
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The historic LeMoyne House at 49 E. Maiden St. in Washington

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Woodville Plantation, built by federal whiskey tax collector John Neville in 1774, is believed to be the oldest structure intended as a private residence in Allegheny County.

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Chuck Edgar, research librarian at the historic LeMoyne House in Washington, is shown at the entrance to the museum. At left is a settee where former owner Francis Julius LeMoyne slept to ease his arthritis pain.

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McMillan Hall at Washington Jefferson College, which dates to 1793, is the eighth-oldest academic building still in use in the United States.

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The twin towers of Old Main at California University of Pennsylvania. (Photo courtesy of Cal U.)

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Woodville Plantation in Bridgeville hopes to obtain a grant to hide the exposed sprinkler system in an attic bedroom.

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Woodville Plantation in Bridgeville hopes to obtain a grant to hide the exposed fire sprinkler system in an attic bedroom.

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An interior view of the ornate dome atop the Washington County Courthouse in Washington.

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The historic LeMoyne House at 49 E. Maiden St. in Washington.

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Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter

Woodville Plantation, built by federal whiskey tax collector John Neville in 1774, is believed to be the oldest structure intended as a private residence in Allegheny County.

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Chuck Edgar, the research librarian at the historic LeMoyne House in Washington, at the entrance to the museum, which owns the settee , at left, where former owner Francis Julius LeMoyne slept to ease his arthritis pain.

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There are motion sensors on every door in the historic LeMoyne House in Washington to help protect the building and its priceless collection of furniture and artifacts from fire and intruders.

The stone house dating to 1812 on East Maiden Street also has a “top-notch” fire alarm system that immediately notifies the city’s fire department when it sounds, said Clay Kilgore, executive director of the Washington County Historical Society, which is headquartered in the museum.

“One or the other, it would just be devastating to lose,” said Kilgore, who was thinking about how heartbreaking it would be to lose the building or others in the area with great historic value in the wake of the fire two weeks ago that destroyed the cherished Century Inn in Scenery Hill.

“In the blink of an eye you can lose everything,” he said.

The owner of the Century Inn, Megin Harrington, has indicated she plans to rebuild the stone house on Route 40 that opened in 1794 as a stagecoach tavern, but the accidental Aug. 18 fire destroyed nearly all of her antiques and art collection.

Washington County is home to many historic houses and collections that are important to the nation’s history.

The valuable archives at Washington & Jefferson College, which include documents bearing the signatures of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, are protected in a bunker-like room in the basement of the college library.

No one is permitted to be alone inside the room, to ensure the documents are properly handled and not stolen. It’s further protected by an alarm system that triggers when the temperature there isn’t between 65 and 70 degrees, the director of U. Grant Miller Library has said.

The Washington campus also has the historic brick and stone McMillan Hall, which is the oldest academic building still in use west of the Allegheny Mountains. A hall there is lined with photographs or sketches of all of the men and one woman who have served as the school’s president, while the lobby boasts chandeliers, a Colonial bentwood railing on the stairway and antique furnishings.

College spokeswoman Karen Oosterhous did not respond to messages seeking comment on the building’s security plan.

Old Main, which was built in 1868 at California University of Pennsylvania, is protected with smoke and heat detectors, as well as a sprinkler system, Cal U. spokeswoman Christine Kindl said.

All of the buildings on campus have a fire-detection system that sends an alert directly to Cal U.’s police headquarters, where officers are on duty around the clock, she said.

The university’s archives are in Manderino Library, a building where alarms sound when materials, including those in the archives, are removed without authorization, Kindl added.

Meanwhile, the Washington County Courthouse, which is often referred to as the “People’s Palace” because of its ornate decor, isn’t protected by a burglar alarm or fire sprinkler system, said Gary Bertosh, the county’s director of buildings and grounds.

The fire extinguishers in the 115-year-old building are being upgraded, and many of the rooms and offices contain smoke detectors that report their locations to a panel when they sound to alert firefighters where to go upon arrival, Bertosh said.

“They work, because they’re working on the elevator, and they keep setting them off,” Court Administrator Patrick R. Grimm said.

Woodville Plantation in nearby Collier Township contains a house with architecture unique to the region and rich ties to the region’s and nation’s history.

The 1 1/2-story frame Neville House on the property on Washington Pike was built in 1774 by John Neville, who was a friend of George Washington and became the chief tax collector during the Whiskey Rebellion.

It’s protected with a 21-year-old sprinkler system, parts of which are exposed in the attic rooms.

Like the LeMoyne House, Woodville Plantation is insured with a company that specializes in historic properties, said Rob Windhorst, president of Neville House Associates.

The Neville House and its antiques also are protected by a burglar alarm system.

“We had a break-in two years ago. It deterred the intruders. They didn’t break or steal anything,” said Windhorst, whose organization is affiliated with the annual Whiskey Rebellion Festival in Washington.

The security measures at Woodville are an expensive priority, he said.

“I think it’s worth it to be able to keep that place for another 200 years,” he said.

Most owners of historic houses, even those that are private residences, take many precautions to protect them because they love old buildings, said Sandy Mansmann, a coordinator with the Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation.

“We encourage people to take care of these places. What else can we do?” Mansmann said.

“I’m always concerned,” she added.

Century Inn had a fire alarm system that alerted emergency officials to issues in the past, said Ellsworth fire Chief Craige Pysh. The morning of the fire, it didn’t sound for unknown reasons.

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