The building in 1987. From the Charles L. Fasold Flickr collection.
Pawling Mansion
10 N. Market Street
This may be the most spectacular house on Market Street, beautiful both inside and out.
After the Great Fire of 1874, this lot remained empty until 1888. During these fourteen years, the area was termed “the Burnt District” by townspeople.
→ In 1875, a spectacular event occurred here. A reunion of Company G of the 147th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was marked by the firing of a salute by cannons, the blast of which shattered most of the windows in the downtown area.
The west side of Market Street in the 1880s. From the Charles L. Fasold Flickr collection.
→ Lewis Pawling built this beautiful house in the late 1880s and moved into it in 1892. The Pawling family was among the earliest pioneer families in Snyder County. Pawling’s grandfather Joseph had fought in the American Revolution and put down roots in Penn Township in 1794. The family slowly gathered property in the western section of the township and came to own much of the land there. In 1820, the family built and moved into a large brick house in the midst of their property. This still stands just south of Route 522 in Penn Township.
→ Lewis decided to build in Selinsgrove because it was closer to his business interests than the family home. The house was designed and developed by an architect from Middleburg, J.F. Stetler in the Richardson Romanesque style. The Courthouse in Middleburg was also designed by Stetler in this style.
→ Lewis Pawling lived in this building and on his country farm until his death shortly after the end of World War I. His son Emanuel had a law office nearby and for a time was vice president of the First National Bank. He ended his own life in October 1940, after learning that he had an incurable disease.
The Civil Defense Control Center inside the building in 1942. From the Charles L. Fasold Flickr collection.
→ In June 1942, the first floor became the Snyder County Air Raid Control Center, under the command of Harold Follmer. Until the center was established here, Selinsgrove was slated to receive all warnings of air raids by telephone from Sunbury. In a test of the regional blackout system in August 1942, Selinsgrove failed spectacularly. Although residents turned their house lights off, the Civil Defense staff couldn’t turn off the borough street lights, due to a faulty switch.
→ Emanuel Pawling’s daughter Helen lived in the house until her death in 1986, changing nothing in the building.
→ Upon Helen Pawling’s death, John Robinson bought the house and had his law office in it. Robinson was the District Attorney for Snyder County for many years. He sold the Pawling Mansion to Dan and Jenn Schreffler in 2015.
April 1943 parade with the Pawling Mansion marked by a CD (Civil Defense) sign. From the Charles L. Fasold Flickr collection.