Smith Mansion Historical Museum
101 South Main Street
Mahanoy City, PA 17948
(570) 773-1034
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2203971582/posts/10160483727871583
https://www.mahanoyhistory.org/mahanoy-1973.html
Open: Appointment only by owner
Admission: Small Donation for restoration of the house
My review on TripAdvisor:
The front of the Smith Mansion
The historic plaque in the front of the home
The porch sitting area as you wait for your hosts to greet you
We were warmly greeted by our hosts and owners of the home. I had not realized that this is a private home and less of a museum. The only way to see the inside of the mansions by private arranged tour or when the owners have an open house either at Halloween or Christmas.
The History of the family and their fortunes:
(from WordPress.com article by Kubek: Project)
By the turn of the century, John Žinčak Smith had become the most accomplished Carpatho-Rusyn businessman and community leader in Mahanoy City, and in 1908, Smith moved his family from their modest West Centre Street home to this monumental mansion at the corner of South Main and East Spruce Street. Built at a cost of $40,000, the mansion included fourteen rooms, four chandeliers, wooden cabinets, and a number of stained glass windows (Mahanoy Area 2004, 15).
Just as he changed his name from Ioann Žinčak to John Smith nearly 30 years earlier, his move from the predominantly Slavic, Catholic West End to the Anglo-Saxon, Protestant East End symbolized his meteoric rise from his humble origins to the economic elite of the region.
However, not all Carpathian-Rusyn Americans viewed Smith’s prosperity favorably. One parishioner penned an anonymous letter to the Carpathian-Rusyn newspaper Postup (The Progress) that sharply criticizes Smith as “a former nobody who wants to stand on the brow of the Rusyn people in America.” The author implies that Smith is embarrassed by being Carpathian-Rusyn, for “he doesn’t speak Rusyn with his children at home” and “is ashamed of his father’s last name” (“From Mahanoy City, PA: Our Chairman” 1908: 3).
We started our tour of the house in the main Living Room and foyer. This is one of the most welcoming houses and you can tell it was designed for entertaining and for a large family to live and enjoy.
The foyer of the house as you enter the home
On the first floor of the home was the formal Living Room and Dining Room of the home. The very energetic small dogs of the owners welcomed us as well.
The formal Living Room
The house still has all its beautiful and ornate moldings and fixtures. The owners told us when the family moved out, robbers had come in and stole the mansions elaborate fixtures and chandeliers so they had to replace them.
The green couch is the only thing outside some family portraits and pictures still original to the house
The portrait of Mr. Smith in the Living Room
The portrait of Mrs. Smith in the Living Room
The owners had collected the most beautiful antique and period furniture over the years which decorates all the rooms. Every piece of furniture and decoration fits each room perfectly. From the elaborate window treatments to the beautifully maintained fireplace, the room may be formal but it is still very comfortable and cosy. The house from the time you walk in has a very welcoming feel to it.
The formal Dining Room
The formal Dining Room is set for formal tour and at the holidays. For today, the owners tiny dog greeted us and wanted to play. The details on these chairs were just spectacular. What a design.
All the moldings are original to the house and all the furniture is beautifully carved and elaborate. The owners told us said the chandelier they picked fit perfectly in the room.
The Dining Room chandelier and the original wood moldings
The window seat of the Dining Room lets in lots of light
The Dining Room may be formal but with all the windows the room lets in lots of natural light and with seating around the room it still feels welcoming and less formal.
We moved from the first floor to the second floor where the library and some of the bedrooms were located.
The staircase to the second floor with the elegant carved staircase
The family portrait of Mr. Smith’s mother greets you up the stairs
In the hallway of the second floor were photos and portraits of the family members which the third generation of the family did not want and sold to the current owners. It is amazing what family will not want of their own past.
Photos of the third generation of Smith’s who moved out of the area. These are of the children and grandchildren of the Smith’s
The Smith family photo in the late 1890’s
The Smith family again in the 1930’s
Our next room of the tour was the library where the owners books, paperwork and more art was located.
The second floor library
The work space, book shelves and the alcoves give the room that homey touch
The Alcove in the library looks over the City
The Library with the music boxes
The owners opened this music box and played for us
The video of the music:
The Library is such a great room just to sit and read, think and relax. I could see why they love it so much.
We then walked to the third floor and we toured the Tower Room, which really has an amazing view of the city. You could see all over town from here. The inside garden in the Tower Room is so beautiful and receives so much sun.
The Tower Room is one of the sunniest rooms of the house.
This room on the third floor of the mansion has the best views of Mahanoy City and looked like Mr. Smith’s message to the town that he had arrived. You could see all over town from this window. Now the room is used as a type of greenhouse for beautiful potted plants and flowers perfect with all the sunlight. This is one of the nicest room in the house.
The Curio Room where the owners keep their collections of knick-knacks and decorative items that line the shelves and tables of the house, there was another music box. One of the owners collected these treasures over the years and the house has lots of examples of these beautiful antiques that were created before radio and records.
The Music box playing:
The owners explained that part of the third floor is used for storage and for their collections. There were all sorts of small sculptures and assorted Knick-knacks that decorate rooms lining the shelves. The owners had done and amazing job on the upkeep of this beautiful home.
The last part of the tour was we went outside on this sunny morning to see the outside gardens. They were impressive for such a small space. The flowers were just starting to bloom and the trees were starting to bud over this cold patch of the early Spring. This weekend was the first weekend where the weather had been nice and started to warm up.
The garden in front of the house just as Spring was starting
The back walled garden and fish pound
The owners own the two homes next door to the mansion and have combined the back gardens. So they had this small fish pond stacked with Japanese fish and walls covered with vines. There is a small gazebo so that you can sit and relax outside in the warmer months.
The other side of the backyard garden just as Spring started
Faces pop up between the vines of the walked garden
The views of the downtown from the house
The tour concluded in the gardens. The owners were explaining how much more beautiful the gardens are in the late Spring and Fall.
The tour was wonderful and the owners could have not been more gracious with their time. They also explained how they will be opening their home again to the public during the holidays during Christmas and hopefully Halloween and how I should come back to visit.
The formal tour of the Smith Mansion again is by private tour only except at holiday Open Houses and can be arranged through the owners of the home. It really is an interesting look at areas industrial past and what life in local society must have been like at that time. It also shows how things change over time and fortunes are made and lost and business and families move on.
It was a wonderful afternoon of stepping back into the past.
