Open house set
The California Area Historical Society will hold an open house from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Gallagher House, 429 Wood St., California. The Gallagher House is the official site of the historical society. Closed for five months due to damages from a faulty furnace, the historical society is once again ready for volunteers and visitors. “Nothing pleases the board of directors more,” said President Mary Beth Graf, “than to say welcome back to the Gallagher House.”
The structure, an early 20th century colonial revival house, was built circa 1900 by Jonathan Winnett Jennings, a Methodist minister in the Monongahela Valley area. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in March 1996.
Donated to the society by the descendants of Charles Gallagher, the facility is now used by the community and out-of-town visitors for local history and genealogical research. Gallagher was the superintendent of the Allied Chemical Corp. at Newell, and his family was the last to use the house as a residence.
“We believe that the damage done to the Gallagher house late last year was the worst the facility ever encountered, and we are anxious to let our members and the public know that every nook and cranny of the interior has been restored,” Graf says.
Refreshments will be served during the open house, and tours will be given of the parlors, library, archives and work areas.