Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

I have a technique, for when I’m stuck for a column idea. Something that gets me thinking and pushes me to create a new, wonderful piece. I get out my contract and re-read it.

If that doesn’t work, I’ve been known to grab a book or file from my archives, and plink my finger down on a random page, and write about whatever I find there. This has led to some good ones. Linn’s History is my favorite, but there are other sources that are just as good.

Today I’m trying the Historic Resource Survey Forms. These are documents about local historic buildings, filled out by local people and kept on file with the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission. It’s important to note that they don’t give the building any special status, it’s just a way of preserving information. Of course I have copies of most of these at the house—I’ve acquired quite a lot of documentation over the years.

Let’s try form 035-LH-378. (035 is Clinton County’s designation, and the “LH” part clearly means Lock Haven. The final number is the serial number for that individual house.) This is the Robert Easton House, at 14 East Bald Eagle Street. It was built in 1872 by Robert Easton, who is listed on the tax forms as running a foundry. The building is brick, and a combination of Victorian Gothic and Italianate. Not that I really care very much about the style—I’ve always been more interested in the history behind the building than the architectural style it was built in.

Let me do another one. That was fun. (It’s possible that you and I have considerably different definitions of “fun”.) Let’s flip randomly to form 035-LH-403. 28 North Fairview Street. The Jared Klapp House.

This one was built in 1869, with the porch added about 1893. The first owner was Jared Klapp, a local carpenter, and unlike most of these places, he probably didn’t just buy it and hire out, he built it himself. Jared Klapp was the father of Pearl Klapp, a very popular local teacher.

How about 1 East Water Street? This is the George Curts House, form 035-LH-023. It was built in 1861, for George Curts, who didn’t want anything fancy. It’s a plain house, listed as “Greek Revival,” and I am no more excited about Greek Revival than I was about Victorian Gothic. George Curts was a local blacksmith, and he lived there with his wife, Ellen. Both are buried in Highland Cemetery.

In 1984, when the form was filled out, this was the home of Leonard Parucha. Parucha was also a local historian, and had been in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. He wrote a lot about the CCC Camps, and his experience in them, documenting a lot of local history for the future. I’m kind of grateful to him, as I’m in that future now.

215 West Main Street is the George Perkins House, form 035-LH-167. It was a Gothic Revival House built in 1865. George Perkins and his wife Harriet bought the property in 1864 from Philip Price, a huge landowner, and began building their house. It may be one of the oldest on West Main Street. The fact that the house is set back further from the street than the other nearby homes suggests that it’s much older, having been built before that part of the city was laid out.

These forms are interesting to page through. For purposes of this column, I concentrated on buildings, but they’re not all about buildings specifically. I’ve seen them filled out for historic monuments and the Susquehanna River. I’ve seen a couple about gutters and storm drains, believe it or not. It would be interesting to write about the forms that aren’t about local buildings. Hey! I think I have an idea for another column.