Birge--Horton House - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

This house was built in 1895 for George K. Birge, who was associated with Birge wallpaper and Pierce-Arrow automobiles. He moved out in 1897, and several others moved in over the course of 13 years until Katherine Horton moved in in 1910.

It was designed by Buffalo architects Green & Wicks and was the last house built as part of the Midway Row Houses. These were very rare in Buffalo as the wealthy preferred large pieces of land. It is rumored to be called Midway because it is supposed to be midway between Niagara Square downtown and Forest Lawn Cemetery.

The Buffalo chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was established in 1892, and Katherine Horton became it's second regent. In 1910 she acquired the Birge House and moved the D.A.R. to it and promoted her career. Under her leadership, membership tripled and the chapter became the largest in New York and second largest in the country.

Horton also enjoyed national notoriety. At the Pan-American Exposition in 1901 she chaired the Reception and Entertainment Women's Committee, presided at the Great Flag Day mass meeting of the Daughters' national society, belonged to the Women's National Board of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, was named by the mayor to represent Buffalo at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915, served on the reception committee and presented flowers to the Queen of Belgium when she and King Albert visited Buffalo after World War I, and was chairman of the Women's Committee for the Tercentenary Celebration of the Landing of the Pilgrims in 1920. She was also very popular in Europe where she was a delegate to the Peace Congress at Stockholm and Geneva, spoke before the noted men of science and representatives of European parliaments assembled to deliberate on establishing world peace, and was was chairman of the national committee for the correct use of the American flag.

After years of declining health, Horton died in 1931 at her home. She willed the majority of her money to her sister and will executor. She also left the house to the Buffalo chapter of the D.A.R. with the provision that it be renamed the Katherine Pratt Horton Chapter.

Street address: 477 Delaware Ave Buffalo, NY United States 14202 County / Borough / Parish: Erie Year listed: 2004 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Person Periods of significance: 1875-1899, 1900-1924, 1925-1949, 1950-1974 Historic function: Single Dwelling Current function: Manufacturing Facility Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.