James Gallagher Home

James Gallagher Home. Ridgway "Lily of the Valley". , When James Gallagher arrived in this area in 1825 with Enos Gillis-brother to Ridgway founder James Lyle Gillis-the town of Ridgway was barely a year old, a pioneer outpost roughly hewn from the surrounding forest. Gillis cleared land in what is now the block between Mill Street and the Clarion River and built a sawmill, gristmill, and tannery. Gallagher worked in the tannery and lived in a log cabin a quarter mile from this site, by the stream later known as Gallagher Run. In 1826, Gallagher's sister-in-law, Hannah Gilbert, began teaching school in the cabin for the children of three of the town's seven families., In 1833, the year in which Jacob Ridgway and James Gillis surveyed the town site and laid out the town's streets and main square, the Gallaghers built their home here. In this prime location, it was one of the first homes visitors encountered when entering Ridgway from Bootjack Hill., In 1894, Senator Harry Alvan Hall moved to Ridgway from St. Marys, bought the Gallagher house, and renovated it substantially. From a family of distinguished lawyers, Hall became state senator in 1890 at age 29 and U.S. district attorney for western Pennsylvania at 32. He served as president judge of the 25th Judicial District until his death in 1917. St. Leo's Church later purchased the Gallagher/Hall property and dismantled the home in the late 1970s., Pioneer Living , The Gallagher family lived a life we can scarcely imagine. Roads in western Pennsylvania were few, rough, and often impassible in wet and winter weather, cut by hand from the surrounding forest. Doctors were scare and mortality high. Before the 1870s, houses were lit by candle, kerosene, and whale oil, making fire an ever-present hazard. Ridgway's few families lived by hard work and creativity, using the land's bountiful trees and wildlife, productive soils, and abundant waterways to survive and thrive., A Wealth of Resources , Like most of Ridgway's early residents, Gallagher built his livelihood and eventual prosperity from the region's natural resources. In 1846, two decades after settling in a small log cabin in Ridgway to work for Enos Gillis, Gallagher built a sawmill 2.5 miles north of Ridgway on the Clarion River. His was the first industry in a settlement now abandoned-called Whistletown, so named for Gallagher's constant whistling., (Photo Captions):, The Gallagher home (white home; center of photograph) and neighboring McCauley Mansion on its left, Mrs. Jacob Gallagher, Senator Harry Alvan Hall Residence, 1833, Senator Harry Alvan Hall Residence, 1894, All photos courtesy Elk County Historical Society