Steeped in American history, Smith house may end up in Ireland
Appearances can deceive, local historian Tim McCown said.
What looks like a brick second-story addition to the William Smith House -- where the first armed opposition to British rule by colonists was planned -- actually is a wooden frame covered with shingles, he said. That 20th-century upper floor is one of the things that so far has kept the building off state and federal registers of historic structures.
The modern renovations, which include porches and a summer kitchen, have not discouraged a museum in Northern Ireland from expressing its interest in relocating the house to the Ulster American Folk Park.
"I'm afraid that if we ever want to see the house as it was, we'll all have to buy a ticket to Europe," Mr. McCown said.
More than 250 years after it was built, the home's future is unclear. The major players include the region's volunteer fire company, the museum in Northern Ireland, historians from across the country and a group of about a dozen Mercersburg area residents who have organized themselves as the Committee to Save the Justice William Smith House.
Smith, an 18th century businessman and local magistrate, was one of the leaders of what historians describe as a group of colonists that mounted the first armed resistance British rule. His home -- then a one-story stone cottage -- was the meeting place in 1765 for mostly Scots-Irish settlers who organized themselves into armed bands. They formed a local militia after concluding that neither the colonial government in Philadelphia nor British officials in London were able to protect them from Indian raids....
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What looks like a brick second-story addition to the William Smith House -- where the first armed opposition to British rule by colonists was planned -- actually is a wooden frame covered with shingles, he said. That 20th-century upper floor is one of the things that so far has kept the building off state and federal registers of historic structures.
The modern renovations, which include porches and a summer kitchen, have not discouraged a museum in Northern Ireland from expressing its interest in relocating the house to the Ulster American Folk Park.
"I'm afraid that if we ever want to see the house as it was, we'll all have to buy a ticket to Europe," Mr. McCown said.
More than 250 years after it was built, the home's future is unclear. The major players include the region's volunteer fire company, the museum in Northern Ireland, historians from across the country and a group of about a dozen Mercersburg area residents who have organized themselves as the Committee to Save the Justice William Smith House.
Smith, an 18th century businessman and local magistrate, was one of the leaders of what historians describe as a group of colonists that mounted the first armed resistance British rule. His home -- then a one-story stone cottage -- was the meeting place in 1765 for mostly Scots-Irish settlers who organized themselves into armed bands. They formed a local militia after concluding that neither the colonial government in Philadelphia nor British officials in London were able to protect them from Indian raids....