Irish-Townsend House
Written by Jennifer Thornton in the A Place in Time category and the Spring 2025 issue Topics in this article: abolitionism, Irish-Townsend House, Keystone Historic Preservation Grant, Lydia Irish, National Register of Historic Places, New Brighton, New Brighton Historical Society, Quakers, Underground Railroad, William Penn Townsend, women's rights movement
The Irish-Townsend House, circa 1916.
Courtesy of the New Brighton Historical Society
In 2021, members of the New Brighton Historical Society (NBHS) learned that the asking price on the Irish-Townsend House had been slashed by 50 percent. The historic building had been sitting empty and deteriorating for years, and its out-of-state owner wanted to sell. Mike Spratt, president of NBHS, took the walkthrough with the realtor. “The [NBHS] leadership team was amazed how much of the original interior architecture remained,” he said.
The team immediately decided they wanted to buy the house. Thanks to a generous loan from a member, they were able to make an offer that same day. Today, due to the hard work of NBHS, the Irish- Townsend House has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is being restored to its former glory.
The beautiful Italianate-style house was the former residence of two significant New Brighton figures: Lydia Irish (1799–1870) and William Penn Townsend (1817–94). “Before the NBHS bought this house, its history was completely unknown to anyone in New Brighton,” Spratt remarked. “No one knew of Lydia Irish and her family or that William Penn Townsend even owned the house. Our research filled in a void in our shared local history.”
It was Lydia Irish who built the house in 1855. An outspoken Quaker, she was a notable leader of the antislavery and women’s rights movements in Ohio and Pennsylvania. She helped organize the first women’s rights conventions in Ohio, including the 1851 convention at Akron, where Sojourner Truth delivered her powerful “Ain’t I a Woman” speech.
Irish also was a founding member and leader of the Western Anti-Slavery Society, one of the more radical abolitionist organizations. Its members called on Northerners to lay their lives on the line to defend freedom seekers. Years after emancipation, Lydia’s son, Dallas Irish, told a reporter that the family operated a waystation on the Underground Railroad, “keeping fugitive slaves in [the] garret during the day” and transporting freedom seekers under the cover of night “in a close carriage toward
Canada.”
In 1863, Lydia Irish sold her home to William P. Townsend, a local industrialist. His father, Robert Townsend, was the founder of the oldest wire mill west of the Allegheny Mountains. William began
working for his father as a teenager, quickly becoming a partner and later president of the business. Under his leadership, the company grew into one of the largest manufacturers of rivets in the world.
Members of the New Brighton Historical Society pose in front of the house after purchasing it in 2021.
Courtesy of the New Brighton Historical Society
Townsend’s success is reflected in the architecture of the Irish-Townsend House. Spratt said, “We find changes the Townsends made all over the house.” They built additions and put in decorative metal ceilings, marble fireplaces, gilded wall stencils, and plaster cornice moldings. A member of the Irish family wrote in a letter that Townsend made their old home “shine.” “And we,” Spratt said, “the New Brighton Historical Society, want to make it ‘shine’ again.”
NBHS has come a long way toward this goal. Construction has been supported in part with funding from Pennsylvania’s Keystone Historic Preservation Grants. When fully restored, the Irish-Townsend House will serve as the archives and meeting headquarters for NBHS as well as an event space. Spratt said, “We will also be offering tours of the house as a stop during our biennial Underground Railroad Walking Tour.”
When asked what advice he would give to others embarking on similar restoration projects, Spratt said, “First, take a deep breath. Don’t think everything has to be done tomorrow. Go with a professional and create a set of architectural and restoration drawings. While that is being done, do your historical research. When you have the plans and research done, create goals, short and long term, that people can relate to.”
The next goal for NBHS is to hold their first meeting at the Irish-Townsend House in July 2026 in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Spratt said, “It’s a goal everyone can relate to and work towards.”
Recent listings in the National Register of Historic Places include Irish-Townsend House, New Brighton, Beaver County; Pennock E. Sharpless House, Glen Mills, Delaware County; and Silver Lake Schoolhouse #1, Montrose, Susquehanna County.
Jennifer Thornton is the National Register coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office.