National Register of Historic Places

Watson-Curtze Mansion

Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania
Listed
July 15, 1983
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
83002244

About this property

Watson-Curtze Mansion, is a historic home located at Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania designed by Green & Wicks and built in 1891–92. The mansion was designed by the Buffalo architectural firm of Green & Wicks and built in 1891–1892. It is a 3+1⁄2-story, two-bay, brownstone mansion in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. It features a short tower, smooth piers with decorated capitals, windows with transoms, carved tympanum, and deep-set windows. The 24-room home also has stained glass windows, oak flooring, 12 fireplaces, and a solarium. Also on the property is a contributing carriage house. The mansion features pierced and hand-carved woodwork, mosaics, stained glass and friezes. There are Tiffany light fixtures including decorative motifs with cherubs, peacocks, leaves, and shells. The home was built by Harrison F. Watson (1853–1904), an Erie roofing paper magnate and holder of U.S. Patents on gaskets and tubes. Harrison and his wife, Carrie Tracy, an avid gardener, lived in the home with their daughter, Winifred, until 1923. In 1923, Frederic Felix Curtze (1858–1941), president of the Erie Trust Company, purchased the home and lived at the property until his death in 1941, when his family donated the property and it officially became a museum. Today, the Mansion is owned by the Erie County Historical Society and is operated as a historic house museum. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It is located in the West Sixth Street Historic District. Media related to Watson-Curtze Mansion at Wikimedia Commons

Location

356 W. 6th St.
Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania
42.12651, -80.09313

Categories

ARTARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

West Sixth Street Historic District
Listed
0.1 mi
Hill, John, House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Reed, Charles Manning, Mansion
Industrial
0.3 mi
Thayer-Thompson House
Industrial
0.4 mi
Boston Store
Industrial
0.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was Watson-Curtze Mansion listed on the National Register?

Watson-Curtze Mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 15, 1983.

What type of historic resource is Watson-Curtze Mansion?

Watson-Curtze Mansion is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Watson-Curtze Mansion?

The period of significance for Watson-Curtze Mansion is recorded as the industrial era.

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