JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Nineteenth-century wine and spirits king John Ludwig’s historic Queen Anne-style home survived three floods, a truck crash and generations of change in downtown Johnstown.
But for many years, it sat battered and blighted.
Not anymore. A newly completed phase of renovations replaced or restored the Ludwig House’s windows, rejuvenated its trim and doors, and recreated the ornate wooden porch that decorated its front for a century.
A new roof had been completed two years earlier.
The nonprofit Clara Barton House and Gardens Inc. used old photographs and paint scrapings to restore the exterior of the house, 662 Main St., to its late 1800s-era look.
“The contractors have done an outstanding job restoring the porch and windows to their original appearance,” said Alan Cashaw, president of the Clara Barton House and Gardens Inc. board. “It’s exciting to see what can happen when people work together to preserve our common history.”
Picturesque porch
The second phase of work restored a long-missing element to its front – its wooden porch.
The original porch was destroyed when a truck carrying railroad ties lost its brakes and crashed in the front yard.
But the Johnstown Area Heritage Association saved remnants, including the original porch roof, which was used in the restoration.
Old wooden pieces were scraped down to their original layers, enabling contractors to paint the entire porch the way it would have looked in the 1880s, JAHA Director of Development Deb Winterscheidt said.
“Queen Anne homes of that era were so colorful. We think it’s beautiful,” she said in an interview last week.
Winterscheidt is one of seven members of the Clara Barton House group working to restore the home into a historical museum with Airbnb short-term rentals on the upper floor. Joe Incardona, a Ludwig descendant, is also part of the board.
1889 refuge
The Ludwig House stands as one of a small number of 1889 flood-era survivors. It bears the name of Ludwig & Sons Wine & Spirits founder John Ludwig, who built the home for his family in 1883.
Ludwig survived the flood.
Some of his family members did, too – just barely. His grandson and co-workers used a metal bar to pry their way out of the family’s Washington Street business the day of the 1889 flood, according to Henry Storey’s 1907 “History of Cambria County.”
The Ludwig House sheltered as many as 75 people a night who were left homeless by the devastation, Storey wrote.
Generations later, the house was the site of downtown Johns-town’s first Black woman- owned business, the Gordon Mortuary. Pauline Gordon was also a city councilwoman, civil rights advocate and community leader.
Ludwig’s descendants, the Incardona family, have passed down stories that American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, who began relief efforts in Johnstown five days after the 1889 flood, used the home as her “headquarters” before the development of Red Cross relief operations on Locust Street.
Barton’s role in Johnstown’s relief effort became legendary as the recovery from a disaster that killed more than 2,200 people grabbed national headlines.
Barton herself once wrote that she used an abandoned railroad car and a dry goods box for a desk in the days after she arrived and worked without rest. Her descriptive letters to the nation’s readers were penned in broad appeals for financial support that lifted the Red Cross’ fame and disaster relief resources.
No photographs are known to support the stories of either Barton’s railroad car “office” or her Ludwig House stay. JAHA has long supported the oral accounts that Barton used the Ludwig House for a time.
Financial support
State, local and foundation funds were acquired to help cover the Phase II renovation costs, Clara Barton House and Gardens members said.
That included more than $67,000 from the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, $5,000 in facade enhancement funds from the City of Johnstown, and a $1,000 Vision Together 2025 capture grant. Those funds were matched with a Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission grant of $73,500.
More than $300,000 in upgrades have now been invested into the home’s restoration – a significant portion of which involved interior stabilization needed to prevent the home from collapsing, Winterscheidt said.
She said funds are also in place to add shutters to protect the home’s windows. If local funding matches can be acquired, nearly $27,000 in museum commission funds are left over that can be used for additional work.
But additional fundraising must be completed for the third phase of work to revive the building’s interior, Winterscheidt said. She said grant applications will be drawn up requesting additional support.
Anyone interested in supporting the fundraising campaign can reach out to the Clara Barton House group at facebook.com/ClaraBartonHouseGardens.
‘Critical’ block
Cashaw said project advocates are hopeful the Ludwig House’s progress will ensure the top of Main Street is also included in planned streetscape revitalization efforts.
The organization’s efforts to salvage and preserve the Ludwig House preceded Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity and American Rescue Plan funding for a redesigned Main Street greenway and Central Park, Cashaw said.
“We think it’s critical to include the block between Clinton Street and Adams Street in revitalization efforts as part of the Main Street corridor, which underscores the need for support from the city to continue the effort,” he said.
link