On the south side of East Potomac Street just up from the intersection of Potomac and Conococheague Streets stands a low brick wall surrounding a parking lot. Until the mid-late 1970s a magnificent brick mansion stood there for almost 150 years. Williamsport has its share of beautiful old homes but few stood out like this one. This home was one of the largest houses ever built in town of that period, perhaps only second to the Banking-Mansion itself.
Jacob Tolley Towson was born in 1762 to the Maryland Towson’s, who founded Towson, Maryland just north of Baltimore. Jacob headed west in search of fortune with his wife Jane. Jane sadly passed away in 1794 without ever having any children. Jacob married Martha Patty Shearer in September of 1795 in Falling Waters, VA. (Martha’s brother was famous furniture maker John Shearer). Jacob and Martha Towson moved to newly formed Williamsport shortly after in search of a new life.
Jacob was a smart, driven, and enterprising man. Towson was leasing lots by at least 1802. He leased the lots at the corner of Potomac and Conococheague Streets and built a tavern. Williamsport came to know this as Taylor’s Hotel/Wolfe’s on the Corner. Over the next few decades Jacob was extremely active in growing Williamsport, he helped start the Conococheague Bank in 1814, helped fund the building of the enormous Potomac House at the corner of Potomac and Artizan (where the Sheetz now stands), and helped establish fire departments and schools. The Potomac House was one of the finest market houses in Maryland of its day. The 1803/4 tax records show Towson’s land holdings were valued second only to the Williams family themselves in town. By the mid-1820s Towson was rich and was buying town lots, farms, and other assets by the handful.
In 1824 Towson purchased lot 27 on East Potomac Street where Ron’s Garage parking lot now is. He proceeded to build a huge, elegant brick mansion 2 1/2 story’s high with 5 chimneys and a brick summer kitchen. The house had large brick stables to the rear. The mansion was so large that the facade took up nearly the entire length of the front of the lot facing the street. The house sat directly along the alley that runs behind the Pythian Castle, running over 70 feet deep. An ornate wrought iron-fence encircled the yard that held beautiful gardens.
When Jacob Towson died in 1844 his assets were divided up among his children. His daughter Hannah wanted her parents mansion on Potomac Street and inherited it. The home and contents were so valuable that her other 2 siblings each inherited several lots and farms to equal it’s value (including the tavern where Taylor’s/Wolfe’s stood). In 1850 Jacob and Martha’s two widowed daughters Hannah and Lydia still lived in their father and mothers beloved mansion.
Early photos from the 1920s and 30s show the house, with freshly painted trim and a beautiful porch quietly holding court along Potomac Street, dwarfing the surrounding buildings.
In a sad turn of events the spectacular residence was torn down in the mid-late 1970s to accommodate yet another parking lot. An empty lot now stands where a monument to Williamsports early, pioneering spirt once stood. We as a town are much the poorer for it. As we read these posts each week we should pause and think what our town would look like if these wonderful old buildings had been saved from the wrecking ball. It begs the question that if these places had been preserved, what would our broad streets look like today? A much different picture comes into focus. Williamsport’s heritage must be protected.
