George Taylor House (Catasauqua, Pennsylvania) facts for kids
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George Taylor House
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George Taylor home in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, August 2008
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 Location in Pennsylvania
Location in the United States
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| Location | Lehigh & Poplar Sts., Catasauqua, Pennsylvania |
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| Built | 1768 |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| NRHP reference No. | 71000709 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | July 17, 1971 |
| Designated NHL | July 17, 1971 |
The George Taylor House, also known as the George Taylor Mansion, was the home of Founding Father George Taylor. He was a very important person who signed the United States Declaration of Independence. This historic house is located in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley area of eastern Pennsylvania.
George Taylor built the house in 1768. In 1971, it was named a National Historic Landmark. This means it's a very important place in American history. Today, the Borough of Catasauqua owns the house. They bought it in 2009 from the Lehigh County Historical Society. The borough now hosts events and offers tours at this special property. It's located near the historic Lehigh River Canal.
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Who Lived in the George Taylor House?
The first three owners of the George Taylor House were important people. They had a big impact on local and national events, especially leading up to the founding of the United States.
George Taylor: Builder and Signer (1768–1776)
George Taylor was born in Northern Ireland in 1716. He moved to the American colonies in 1736. He started as an Indentured laborer, which meant he worked for someone for a set time to pay for his trip. Later, he became a successful ironmaster, someone who runs an iron factory. He worked at different places in Pennsylvania, like Warwick Furnace and Durham Furnace.
In 1767, Taylor bought a large property of about 331 acres (1.3 km²) in Biery's Port. This area is now part of Catasauqua. He paid £700 for it. On this land, overlooking the Lehigh River, he built his beautiful home. It was one of the finest houses in the area at that time.
After moving in, his wife Ann passed away. Taylor lived in the house for six more years. In 1774, he moved back to Durham to manage the ironworks there. Before the war, Durham Furnace made things like stove plates and cooking pots. But when the Revolutionary War started in 1775, the factory became very important. It made cannon shot for the Continental Army and Navy.
Taylor also became involved in public service. In the late 1750s, he was a justice of the peace. This was an important job in colonial times. Later, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. He represented Northampton County from 1764 to 1769. In 1775, he was re-elected. On July 20, 1776, he was chosen to join the Continental Congress. Just two weeks later, on August 2, he signed the Declaration of Independence.
In March 1776, Taylor sold his Biery's Port property to John Benezet. This was four months before he joined Congress. In March 1777, Taylor was named to Pennsylvania's new Supreme Executive Council. This group of 12 people acted like a governor. But Taylor was not well, so he resigned after a few months. He stopped his public career. He continued working in iron making for three more years. In 1780, he retired to Easton. He died less than a year later, on February 23, 1781, at age 65.
John Benezet: A Philadelphia Merchant (1776–1782)
John Benezet was from Philadelphia. His father, Daniel Benezet, was a well-known merchant. John briefly went to the College of Philadelphia in 1757. In 1768, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society. In 1775, he married Hanna Bingham. His father gave him a lot of money to start an import business. On March 27, 1776, Benezet bought George Taylor's estate for £1,800.
Like Taylor, Benezet also got involved in politics for a short time. In early 1775, he helped record meetings at the Pennsylvania Provincial Congress. Taylor also attended this meeting. In August 1775, Benezet was named to Philadelphia's Committee of Correspondence.
In 1777, the Continental Congress appointed Benezet as Commissioner of Claims in the Treasury Office. However, he resigned in 1778 to focus on his business. Benezet died in the winter of 1780–81. His ship, the Shillelagh, was lost at sea while traveling to France.
David Deshler: Protecting the Frontier (1782–1796)
In 1782, John Benezet's widow sold the Biery's Port estate to David Deshler. She sold it for the same price her husband had paid six years earlier. David Deshler was born in Switzerland in 1734. He came to the American colonies as a baby. His father, Adam Deshler, was one of the first people to live in the northern part of what is now Lehigh County. Adam Deshler owned a lot of land. He even built Fort Deshler in Whitehall Township in 1760. This fort helped protect local settlers from attacks.
When David Deshler bought Taylor's former house, he was living in Northampton Town. This town is now Allentown. Deshler built Northampton Town's first house in 1762, the year the town was founded. He first ran a store and a tavern there. Later, he started a saw mill and a grist mill, which were the town's first industries. By the mid-1770s, he was one of the richest men in the region.
In 1774, Deshler was appointed to the county's Committee of Observation. In 1776, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, where he served with George Taylor. During the Revolutionary War, Deshler's properties in Northampton Town were used to make and store supplies for the Continental Army. In 1777, the Assembly made him one of four "sub-lieutenants" in charge of the county's military preparations. Deshler was a colonel in the militia. He was also named a Commissioner of Purchases in February 1778. He helped get supplies for the army.
The war ended in 1783. The next year, Deshler was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly. In 1787, he was a delegate to the state meeting that approved the federal Constitution. After his last term in the Assembly in 1788, he retired from public service. Deshler lived the rest of his life at Biery's Port. He died there on December 24, 1796, at age 62.
The House in the 1800s and 1900s
During the 1800s, George Taylor's old house had many different owners. Eventually, the Wahneta Silk Company bought it. They built a mill in front of the house around 1890. For many years, the property was not well cared for and started to fall apart.
In 1945, the Lehigh County Historical Society saved the house. They raised money from their members to buy it and fix it up. Since then, the historical society has done a lot of work to restore the house to its original condition.
A National Historic Landmark
On July 17, 1971, the George Taylor House was officially recognized as a National Historic Landmark. This is a special honor for places that are important to the history of the United States. In 1982, a fire destroyed the old silk mill that was in front of the house. The historical society then bought that land. They turned it into a front lawn, making the historic site look like a park.
In 2008, the historical society suggested selling the house to the Borough of Catasauqua for $250,000. They believed the borough could do more with the site. They thought it would be best for the people of Catasauqua, as it could be used for many community events.
On May 5, 2013, a special monument was unveiled on the front lawn of the house. This happened as part of the Lehigh County Bicentennial celebration. The monument was designed by Jirair Youssefian. This monument will be the base for a future statue of George Taylor, which is currently being planned.
