Preservationists: West Middletown a unique opportunity
A historical marker on Main Street in West Middletown
Historic photos are part of the McKeever Study Library’s extensive archives. This photo, taken on Main Street in West Middletown, is from the early 1900s.
The dining room of the Opal home in West Middletown
Judy Miller restored this historic home in West Middletown.
This house on East Main Street in West Middletown is known as the “crooked house.”
The kitchen of John Opal’s restored home
The living room of Judy Miller’s restored home on Main Street in West Middletown
The front door of John Opal’s home on West Main Street in West Middletown
WEST MIDDLETOWN – Before Lewis and Clark set out to map the Northwest, before the birth of Abraham Lincoln, before Francis Scott Key penned “The Star Spangled Banner,” a settlement took root in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and some of its early structures still stand today.
Located along Route 844, West Middletown, at about 200 years old, is among the oldest surviving municipalities in the region. Once bustling with residents, shops and hotels, the village was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Now, the borough contains a historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places, consisting of 41 homes, 31 of which were built prior to 1850. Five of those homes are log structures that date to the early 1800s.
Of the 31 homes, two are in imminent danger of destruction and three more are in need of intervention.
The history of the once-thriving municipality is well-preserved, thanks to the efforts of residents past and present. Historians, including Phoebe Acheson Murdock and her daughter, Jane Murdock Fulcher, wrote letters to West Middletown descendants, recorded and catalogued, allowing the eventual formation of the McKeever Study Library.
Murdock’s granddaughter and Fulcher’s niece, Councilwoman Ellen Armstrong, is one of a small band of dedicated preservationists who are trying to prevent the loss of more structures and revitalize the once-thriving municipality.
“It was in Jane’s blood,” said Armstrong of her passion for the past. “I guess it’s in mine a little bit, too.”
Armstrong, her husband, Mayor Garry Armstrong, and Councilman John Opal realize the rural qualities that appeal to some can also be drawbacks. There is no public sewerage, half the town has access to high-speed internet while the other doesn’t, and the borough’s yearly budget is just $55,000. But they have hopes that their unique history will appeal to some.
They are working on a multimunicipality zoning ordinance with the nearby townships of Canton, North Franklin and Hopewell that they hope will fortify their historic district codes. They are preparing a sidewalk project to present to the Redevelopment Authority of Washington County, and they host community beautification events, such as plantings and decorating contests, to get their neighbors involved.
The small municipality has been featured on several preservation lists, including Preservation Pennsylvania’s At Risk, and as a nominee for the Young Preservationists of Pittsburgh top 10 historic sites. The honor helps to draw attention to West Middletown’s plight. Still, blighted properties continue to be a problem.
According to Opal, when Cross Creek Lake was created in the early 1980s, real estate was bought up with the predication there would be a resurgence. A lot of the owners resided out of state and didn’t maintain the homes.
Some people can’t afford or aren’t willing to fix their properties, he said.
“I would like to see some small businesses come in, like shops,” said Opal. “The issue is parking. We are looking at tearing down one of the dilapidated buildings and creating a parking space.”
Armstrong, whose family has owned West Middletown’s Rosegill Farm since the 1790s, remembers the little town thriving during the sesquicentennial in 1973. She recalls community festivals in which thousands would pack the main street.
Local history is collected and preserved at the freestanding, octagonal McKeever Study Library, overlooking the lake. Collections of letters and firsthand accounts from before the Civil War are catalogued and available for viewing. Almost 300 images from glass negatives of photos taken in the early 1900s are preserved and posted on the McKeever Study Library Association’s Facebook page.
“Small towns in Pennsylvania are suffering,” Garry Armstrong said. “We’re not unique in that aspect.”
Where West Middletown is unique, though, is its documented history.
“Our hope is that people who love history start investing here,” Opal said. “If history is their passion, there’s opportunity here.”