Galbraith Mansion - 1892

Client: Historic Erie Preservation Trust
Location: 259 West 6th St., Erie, Pennsylvania
Dates: Original building — c. 1892; Renovation - In progress
National Register of Historic Places Listing: Significant building in the West Sixth Street Historic District.

This Romaneque Revival-style house was built in 1892 . The home was designed by the prominent Buffalo architectural firm of Green and Wicks and constructed by local company Constable Brothers Building Firm.

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The Downing-Galbraith Mansion was built in 1892 on the site of the old West Ward School. As Erie was not yet a city, the Borough of Erie divided the town into two wards: the East and West. In 1848, the East Ward and West Ward Schools were built, both large brick structures that employed five teachers each. The West Ward School was built at the southeast corner of West 6th and Mrytle St, while the East Ward School was built at East 7th and Holland St. Both wards erected other schools at various locations in Erie as the population grew, especially after Erie was incorporated as a city in 1851. The West Ward School at this site was demolished in 1890 when Hon. William A. Galbraith (1823 - 1898) purchased the lot for $5,000.

Judge Galbraith was a lawyer and President Judge of the Sixth Judicial District of Pennsylvania. His son, Davenport Galbraith (1892-1914), a Yale University and University of Pennsylvania graduate, as well as a lawyer and the Vice President of the Erie Trust Company, received this land from his father. Davenport Galbraith’s father-in-law, Hon. J.F. Downing (1827-1913), commissioned the construction of a Richardsonian Romanesque mansion on this lot in 1890 as a wedding present for his daughter, Winifred Downing (1864-1939). Winifred and Davenport Galbraith were wed on June 18, 1885, in Erie, Pennsylvania. The property was adjacent to Judge Downing’s home, which is currently the site of the First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. The 18-room, 4-story home features ornate ceilings, wooden window seats, hand-carved bookcases, marble floor-to-ceiling fireplaces, and opulent interior woodwork.

After Davenport Galbraith’s death in 1914, Winifred remained in the home until 1921, when the Women’s Club of Erie purchased the property. Mrs. Galbraith was a member of the club at the time of purchase.

This house was listed as 259 W. Sixth Street (Davenport Galbraith Mansion) in the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a significant building in the West Sixth Street Historic District in 1984.