Baldwin-Reynolds House and Museum - Meadville, PA - History Museums on Waymarking.com

According to the museum’s website:

In 1789 Squire Samuel Lord, already an early pioneer to the northwestern Pennsylvania wilderness, received 403 acres of land in what was then part of Allegheny County as payment for his services in the Continental army. Lord built a rough-hewn log cabin on the southwest corner of his new acreage; this cabin stood on a ridge of land overlooking the main branch of the French Creek, which at the time flowed just below the terrace bluff. It also faced the Venango Indian trail, the same one which a young George Washington had followed on his way to Fort LeBouef in 1753. Lord’s original acreage, which he tilted Mount Hope, ran from French Creek eastward to the original boundary of Greendale Cemetery.

Ten years after Squire Lord had acquired his property, Henry Baldwin, a recent graduate of Yale Law School, came to Meadville from New Haven, Connecticut. With the creation of Crawford County in 1800, Baldwin became one of the first two attorneys admitted to the new county’s bar. In 1805 he married second wife Sarah Ellicot in the Water Street home of her sister Jane Kennedy. Simultaneously with his marriage, Henry Baldwin moved to Pittsburgh, where he cam to have significant business and political as well as legal interests. He was a staunch supporter of the Protective Tariff, and was elected to Congress in 1816. He subsequently served three terms. In 1828 Baldwin actively campaigned for the election of Andrew Jackson. Although not appointed to the Jackson cabinet as expected, he was appointed Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1830, and served for almost fourteen years.

In 1840 Squire Lord died and his property was offered for sale. Judge Baldwin, who was considering retirement plans at the time, decided upon the Lord estate as the location for his permanent home. By this time, Baldwin’s son had built a mansion called “Hunter’s Hill” near Nashville, Tennessee, and it was his home that the Judge chose to copy. On September 23, 1840, Baldwin contracted with a local builder to have 100,000 bricks delivered to the site where the home was to be constructed, and work began the following spring. By July of 1843, pine boards for the flooring were purchased, as were the necessary locks and fixtures, and by the end of that summer, the Baldwins were able to take up residence in their first permanent home. Unfortunately, in less that a year the Judge died of a stroke while closing his law office in Philadelphia. His widow, Sally Baldwin, faced with inadequate funds to maintain upkeep of such a massive structure, leased the house for three years to a female seminary for use as a boarding school. In 1847, she sold the property to her nephew William, the youngest child of her sister Jane and John Reynolds. William and his wife Julia moved in with their daughter Frances (1846-1934), and in the years that followed, three more children – Julia (1848-1918), Henry (1852-1908), and John Earle – were born.

William Reynolds’ involvement in the Meadville community ran the gamut of industrial and transportation interests. A lawyer and 1837 graduate of Allegheny College, William was by the 1850’s instrumental in the building of two plank road systems in the city, and he supported the growing interest in a canal to link the Crawford County area with the Erie system. He was also a great proponent of the railroad system, serving as Director of the Pittsburgh and Erie R.R. in 1853, and President of the Atlantic and Great Western R.R. Company in 1859. His business involvement included two gas and water companies, and he was elected first Mayor of Meadville in 1866.

During his lifetime, William Reynolds brought many changes to the structure Judge Baldwin had built, and to the grounds surrounding the mansion. William’s love of both learning and horticulture can be discerned from his letters, which detail seasonal changes to the lawn and gardens, and expansion of first one library on the second floor (1851), and then another on the first floor (1865). He installed gas chandeliers in 1866, and in 1873 created a new solarium on the rear first floor by enclosing part of the south side porch. He also installed the parquet wood floors.

When both William and his wife died within months of each other in 1911, the house passed to their youngest son, John Earle, as older son Henry had died in 1908. John E. married Katherine Shryock and settled into the family estate after a year-long honeymoon trip to Europe. An eventual three-time mayor of Meadville, he maintained the building without many changes, and lived there until his death in 1947. He was survived by his widow Katherine who lived quietly in the huge house with her brother and two servants until her death in 1963.

In October of 1963, the Crawford County Historical Society, under the presidency of Nellus Rhodes, decided to attempt to acquire the Reynolds property in order to preserve both its history and beauty. A public meeting was held at the court house, during which some 200 people expressed interest in the idea. A public subscription campaign began immediately to purchase the property. The executor of the estate offered to sell it to the society and public response, including donations from local school children, was gratifying. Within a year the entire purchase price had been met.

The Baldwin-Reynolds House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although purchased unfinished, it now displays many of the original family pieces, some bequeathed by Katherine Reynolds and others donated back by members of the community. The museum also houses objects from other Crawford County families and more distant friends of the Historical Society. There are twenty-three rooms on display, some restored to reflect their uses during the house’s past, and others set aside for local historical display.

Theme: Local history, architect, displays, etc. Street Address: Baldwin-Reynolds House Museum 639 Terrace Street Meadville, Pennsylvania 16335 Food Court: no Gift Shop: yes Hours of Operation: The Baldwin-Reynolds House is open for tours from May to September. During the months of May and September the house will be open during weekends only. From June 13th through August 19th, the house will be open Wednesday to Sunday. Tour Hours: 12pm to 4pm Tours run approximately 1 - 1 1/2 hours Cost: 5.00 (listed in local currency) Museum Size: Small Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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