Erie in Erie County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Connelly • Payne • Wilson House

502 West 6th Street

— 1890 —

Connelly • Payne • Wilson House Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, July 15, 2026

1. Connelly • Payne • Wilson House Marker

Inscription. This Shingle Style house was built 1890 for $8,500 by Constable Bros. for Frank Connell (1855-1917) and wife Electra Orton Connell (1854-1943) on property purchased 1889 from David & Susan Burger. An Ohio native. Frank Connell (1855-1917) came to Erie via Pittsburgh 1885 as Secretary-Treasurer of Skinner Engine Co. and Vice President & Treasurer of Union Iron Works. He was active in local and state organizations, including President of The Erie Club 1903 & 1905 and Kahkwa Club 1906 & 1908

Francis H. "Frank" Payne (1868-1942), an 1891 Princeton honors graduate and a leading Erie industrialist / entrepreneur, and second wife Nellie Mizener Payne (1869-1939) bought the house in 1926. His father, Calvin Nathaniel Payne (1844-1926), who spent his last days in this house, was an associate of John D. Rockefeller and considered "high on the list of founders of the oil and gas industry...". Calvin Payne established Metric Metal Works in Erie at E. 10th & Payne Ave. in 1891. Frank Payne joined Metric Metal that year, becoming Manager 1896 when it merged into American Meter Co. and ending his 51 year career as American Meter President

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(1936-1942). Frank and his father manufactured the only automobile made in Erie -- Payne-Modern -- albeit iust one year (1907-08). In 1911 Frank was a co-founder of Lawrence Hotel. The Payne family also had significant presence in Sarasota, Florida starting 1911. Norman Douglas Wilson (1917-1948) and wife Jeanne Hall Wilson (1919-1992) took ownership in 1946. A 1939 Princeton graduate and U.S. Navy WWII veteran, he was Assistant Purchasing Agent at Erie's Hammermill Paper Co. when a tragic 1948 train accident caused his untimely death at age 31. In 1953, his parents, Norman W. Wilson (1885-1979) and Flora Nickwilson (1880-1969), acquired the property. Norman W. Wilson, a prominent industrialist in Erie and the paper making industry, was an Erie High School dropout at 16 who joined three year old Hammermill Paper Co. 1901 as office boy, becoming protege of Hammermill co-founder Ernst Behrend. Upon Behrend's death 1940, Wilson became President then Chairman 1953 until retirement as Chairman Emeritus 1963, covering 62 years at Hammermill. In 1980, Wilson Family sold the house that subsequently served as an advertising agency, home for

Front view of Connelly • Payne • Wilson House. Marker to the left of the front door image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, July 15, 2026

2. Front view of Connelly • Payne • Wilson House. Marker to the left of the front door

at risk youth and sorority house

In 2020, the house was acquired by Erie businessman Thomas B. Hagen, Founder & Chairman of Historic Erie Preservation Trust, and was restored under the direction of Erie Architect D. Jeff Kidder., AIA in 2022-23 to preserve it as a place of historical interest for the benefit of the community.

Since 1984, this house has been listed as the Burger-Connell House on the National Register of Historic places by U.S. Department of the Interior and designated a Significant building in Erie's---

West Sixth Street Historic District

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Notable Buildings. A significant historical year for this entry is 1890.

Location. 42° 7.531′ N, 80° 5.793′ W. Marker is in Erie, Pennsylvania, in Erie County. It is at the intersection of West 6th Street (Alternate Pennsylvania Route 5) and Walnut Street, on the right when traveling west on West 6th Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 502 W 6th Street, Erie PA 16507, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

Corner view Connelly • Payne • Wilson House image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, July 15, 2026

3. Corner view Connelly • Payne • Wilson House

It is also in the American Northeast,

in the Mid-Atlantic,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Siegle-McDougle House (within shouting distance of this marker); Richard Lowry House (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Cody House (about 700 feet away); Sophia's Tavern Building (about 700 feet away); Watson-Curtze Mansion (approx. 0.2 miles away); Charles Vernon Gridley (approx. 0.3 miles away); Presque Isle and the Bay (approx. 0.4 miles away); Industrial Erie (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Erie.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 28, 2026. It was originally submitted on July 30, 2026, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 13 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on July 30, 2026, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.