Historic West Newton home to be sold after legislation passes to lift restrictions
State legislation is needed to allow the sale and preservation of a historic house in West Newton.
State Rep. Justin Walsh, R-Rostraver Township, was the prime sponsor of House Bill 1009, which would lift certain restrictions on the John C. Plumer house on South Water Street.
“Originally, I received the information from the Mon Valley Initiative,” Walsh said. “They were trying to get the restriction released for some time.”
That restriction is the Project 70 Land Acquisition and Borrowing Act passed into law in 1964 that allowed the commonwealth to acquire land for state parks, reservoirs and other conservation, recreation, conservation and historical purposes.
The borough had been the owner of the property since that acquisition until about five years ago when they sold the property to the Mon Valley Initiative, an organization that offers community outreach, real estate development and rehabilitation, and other services.
Patrick Shattuck, the real estate and community outreach director for the Mon Valley Initiative, said they purchased the property when those taking care of the upkeep and maintenance could not longer do it, and the borough was talking about demolishing the structure.
Shattuck said the Mon Valley Initiative did some immediate work to stabilize the building including repairing windows and siding and keeping the structure secured and maintained.
Since then, Shattuck said they’ve identified a buyer, a woman from out of state, ready and willing to preserve the building.
“Everyone has come to an agreement and wants to move forward,” Shattuck said, adding that the sale met the approval of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “We just need the collective deed.”
Walsh said once his bill is passed on the floor of the House, it will go to the Senate and, if approved, on to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
As a part of the Project 70 Acquisition, the profits from the sale of the house, expected to be around $18,000, will go to the borough of West Newton to be used for recreational programs.
“The borough wants this done as much as we do,” Shattuck said.
The house, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, belonged to John C. Plumer, a pioneer who spent the early part of his life trading in commodities necessary to frontier life.
Born in 1788, Plumer served in the War of 1812, and upon his return, he was elected captain of a troop of Pennsylvania militia cavalry in Fayette and Westmoreland counties and served a term of seven years.
Plumer, a follower of Andrew Jackson, was elected to the state Legislature in 1830 and the state Senate in 1839. Locally, he served as a justice of the peace and pioneered the movement for a free school system.
Shattuck said the house, which was built sometime in the early 1800s, is the oldest building in West Newton.