Preservation of Williamsport Foundation

ATTENTION:  WE HAVE EXCITING NEWS

Preservation Williamsport & The Rowley House Museum are Raising Funds for our next Museum Restoration Project:

THE PERIOD KITCHEN AND PANTRY RESTORATION

Our next challenge is the complete Restoration of the Kitchen and Pantry area of the Rowley House Museum.  The kitchen has been renovated over the years and is in dire need of being taken back to the period when the house was built.  Another reason for its importance, is that Tourists always remark about wanting to see a period kitchen.  In Fact in most historic houses, the kitchen is the most popular place to tour.  Tourists young and old desire to see the newly invented kitchen appliances and gadgets that made life easier for all involved.  

Our goal for our period kitchen will be a cook stove; hot water boiler; gas lighting; original wainscoting; work sink; and the many kitchen utensils and gadgets used in cooking at the time.  Our volunteer group has a recognized Antiquities Expert and Architect, both with a lifetime of experience in historic restoration.
We will be restoring the floors, walls, ceilings and original period cabinetry as well as a separate catering kitchen to serve our many events at the Museum. 

If you would like learn more about our exciting Kitchen and Pantry project, feel free to contact any member, and please don't forget to donate.

The Rowley House Museum

The Rowley House Museum located at 707 West Fourth Street in Williamsport, Pa., is owned and operated by Preservation Williamsport(PW).  "PW" is a 501C-3 non-profit organization established 35 years ago to protect and promote the vast architectural heritage of the City and the greater Williamsport Area.  This 13 bedroom mansion in the heart of the historic district was built in 1888 by Edwin A. Rowley, has a rich architectural heritage, remarkable state of preservation, and elaborate design by a locally famous architect.  Rowley was one of the greatest local entrepreneurs of the Lumber Era that put Williamsport on the Map.

The Rowley House Museum is open for public tours and hosts bus, group and student tours from all over the world.  Tourists are amazed at this house which is an example of early Queen Ann Architecture.  In fact, it is one of the most intact Queen Ann homes in  Pennsylvania from an interior and exterior perspective.  One can see original lighting, fabulous stain-glass windows, and fireplaces made locally at Rowley's world famous woodworking machine factory.  The amount of local history to be learned at this museum would take many pages to describe.

History of the Historic District and Preservation Williamsport

The mission of Preservation Williamsport is to restore and preserve Williamsport’s rich architectural heritage, and to educate the public about the importance of preservation. The acquisition of the Rowley House was a natural adjunct.

Historic preservation provides a community with a sense of place, connecting people to their neighbors and their past. With the addition of the Rowley House Museum visitors to the area will be able to discover not only names and street addresses of the industrious generations who came before us but they will now be able to experience first hand how these millionaires lived and worked. They may view an authentic and vivid time slot of history, with original amenities still intact nearly 130 years later.

Preservation of Williamsport Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 and incorporated in 1990 when a group of preservation-minded citizens saw the need for an organization dedicated to protecting Williamsport’s rich, but endangered, historic heritage.

In 2004, a board of 10 members formed to pursue the acquisition of the Rowley House. (Currently in 2022 the board has grown to 16 members) Officers were elected and funding sources were sought. With a $75,000 grant from the First Community Foundation Partnership of PA and a large private donation from Allen and Kay Ertel, Preservation Williamsport was able to acquire the Rowley House. All avenues to secure funds to pay for the building and to perform repairs and restoration work are being targeted. Annual membership solicitations and various fundraisers have been conducted regularly.