Danville, PA I (1/3/2023)

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Our last attempt to visit Buffalo was cancelled by a snow squall. Since then they have had a regular old blizzard, and a polar cyclone? What next? We are headed north once again, hopefully between storms.

But first a stop in Danville, PA to view historic and architecturally significant buildings.

It was a foggy and drizzly day.

Welcome to Danville sign in Zamboni Park, which
is meticulously cared for by Bill Zamboni

In an area that was a summer hunting ground for the indigenous Susquehannocks, a 1768 Treaty after the French and Indian War ceded lands to the British including what is now central and western Pennsylvania. In 1773 William Montgomery began acquiring property along the Susquehanna and Mahoning Rivers, and eventually named the settlement after his son, Daniel. Montgomery developed the first gristmill, sawmill, and trading post. Danville became a transportation hub served by several railroads, and later iron mills were the chief industry.

Mural on N Front Street: Danville: Rich Past, Proud Present,
Bright Future, depicts people looking from
Bald Top Mountain onto the Susquehanna River

43 West Market Street (1872, in Second Empire style)
is constructed with Vermont stone and granite

61 West Market Street (1872) once mirrored the house at
43 West Market Street, but was remodeled
in Colonial Revival style in early 20C

107 West Market Street (1875, in Queen Anne style)

135 West Market Street (1814, in Federal style) was the
second brick home built in Danville

147 W Market Street (1804, Federal-era log and frame)
was the home of Robert C Grier, Associate Justice
of the United States Supreme Court appointed in 1846

157 West Market Street (1875 in Second Empire style)

171 West Market Street (1869, in Italianate style)

181 West Market Street (1911, in Queen Anne Shingle style)

203 West Market Street (1855 as The Danville Academy,
remodeled in early 20C)

Montgomery-Beaver House at 317 West Market Street
(c mid 1800s) has Italianate detailing

339 West Market Street (1850) features a rooftop belvedere

326 West Market Street (1916 in Georgian Revival style)

208 West Market Street (left side) was once the home of
Dennis Bright, a member of the State legislature

202 West Market Street (1910, in Queen Anne Shingle style)

158 West Market Street (Federal-era with
a late Victorian porch)

150 West Market Street (1930)

142 West Market Street (1870)

108 West Market Street (1834, remodeled c 1900
in Victorian Eclectic style)

108 West Market Street detail

62 West Market Street (1831, in Federal style); it is
said that Thomas Edison was a guest here

52 West Market Street (1875,
in Second Empire style)

46 West Market Street (1830s,
in Second Empire style)

42 West Market Street (c 1840,
in Italianate/Federal style)

Next: Danville, PA II.