The Harwood Mansion on Fairview Avenue

The Harwood family established their mansion on Fairview Avenue in 1912 after Samuel Harwood built the residence while expanding his successful architectural stone company. Three generations lived there, including Samuel, his wife Elizabeth, their children, and Samuel’s father who remained involved in the household. The family income came from quarry operations, stone cutting contracts, and construction supply work.

Historical records describe the mansion as a carefully maintained home with active use of the music room, library, and upper bedrooms during the years when Harwood Stone Company remained successful.

The first warning sign appeared in 1931 when Harwood Stone Company recorded cancelled building contracts and delayed payments from construction firms. During the economic downturn, Samuel dismissed workers, closed several upper bedrooms, and postponed repairs to the slate roof, granite entrance, and damaged porch sections. After Samuel became ill in 1934, the company struggled to continue operating. By 1937, unpaid business loans, property taxes, and medical costs forced the Harwood family to leave Fairview Avenue and relocate while creditors arranged foreclosure proceedings for the residence.

The Harwood Mansion was abandoned in 1938 after the collapse of the stone company, unpaid debts, and foreclosure proceedings removed the family from the property. No restoration occurred, and no Harwood descendants returned after leaving Fairview Avenue. Municipal records documented unsuccessful ownership transfers and continued deterioration of the vacant mansion. The interior rooms remained closed, preserving household furnishings, business records, and personal belongings left behind. Over the decades, moisture damage, weather exposure, and structural wear affected the limestone walls, slate roof, granite details, and wooden porch wings. The Gothic Revival and Prairie-style mansion remains empty on the residential avenue, slowly deteriorating without restoration or confirmed future use.