Lou’s View – April 14, 2016

The Prendible Building

by Lou Bernard

It stands like a sentinel over the Hill Section in Lock Haven, at the corner of Bellefonte Avenue and South Jones Street. Towering over the city, it can be seen throughout the whole neighborhood.

I’m talking about Carter Towers, the housing unit on South Jones Street, which is not the subject of this article. No, I want to write about the building that stood there before Carter Towers was built in 1971, once the oldest building in town.

The Prendible Building.

The house can be seen in old photos at the Ross Library, and it’s an impressive, huge building that is clearly very old, with tons of dark windows. If it wasn’t haunted, it should have been. It took its name from Patrick Prendible, a railroad contractor who purchased the place in the 1870s and lived there for a few years.

But really, it should be called the Mahan Building. And the history goes much deeper than you’d think, making it one of the more significant spots in Lock Haven.

The building was built in 1819, making it one of the earliest buildings in the present-day Lock Haven city limits. For that matter, it was almost fifteen years older than Lock Haven itself, which was founded by Jerry Church in 1833. Jerry was an adventurer and a womanizer who dated several women in the early days, instead of, say, running for mayor or something. The property fronted on Bellefonte Avenue, at that time known as the “Great Road.” It was just downhill from Great Island Cemetery, which could likely be seen from the front porch.

Alexander Mahan was an early settler in the area, in the days when this was still Lycoming County. He built the elaborate home, living there and operating it as a hotel. It was known as the Mahan Hotel. Mahan raised his family there, because it’s always comforting to have your children and business within sight of a cemetery. The building did a sort of double duty as the local hotel, tavern, store, and post office, which is not as unlikely as you think—Buildings being fairly scarce in some areas, any hotel would have been pressed into service as a post office or something. In the early days of Clinton County, a Water Street tavern was used as the courthouse.

The place was also known as the White Horse Tavern, which was okay as the street changed, too. Eventually it went from “Great Road” to Clinton Avenue, and finally in the 1860s, it began to be known as Bellefonte Avenue. Today it is known as “Impossible to cross at certain times of day without super-powers.”

Mahan was the second hotel owner in the area, beaten only by John Myers, who owned a small place down on the river.  Mahan continued to run his hotel for several years. Jerry Church, our town founder, very likely met his significant other there.

Jerry, as I mentioned, had an eye for the ladies. He was not above chatting up a pretty girl in much the same way as my desk is not above the attic. He met Maria Mahan, Alexander’s daughter, in the hotel, most likely while he was there for dinner.

Jerry and Maria had a child together, little Margaret Church, born in May of 1835. I’ve always speculated that Jerry, for a change, was ready to settle down and raise a family, but it didn’t work. Maria Mahan died soon after Margaret was born, leaving Jerry a single parent. She was buried in Great Island Cemetery, just up the hill from her home.

Alexander sold the building and moved to Lockport around 1837. The post office was moved down into Lock Haven at this point, since it was thriving by now. The building went through a few more owners before ending up in the hands of Patrick Prendible in 1878. In spite of the fact that it had been built by Mahan, it’s Prendible who is mainly remembered as the owner.

Samuel Crist, lumberman and former mayor of Lock Haven, bought the place in 1897. The house stayed in his family for quite some time, until it was purchased by the Housing Authority and torn down to make housing for seniors.

That spot was, however, once one of the most important places in the city. Next time you’re walking past, take a moment to pause and think about it. At least until the current residents tell you to get off their lawn.