Johnston House
Unity Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Wm. F. Johnston, Governor of Pennsylvania, 1848-52, was born near here, 1808. This house, built by his father, 1815, was his boyhood home. Known as Kingston House, it has been cited as a fine example of colonial style.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
This sturdy 1815 house, sometimes called Kingston House, sheltered the boyhood of William F. Johnston, who served as governor of Pennsylvania from 1848 to 1852. His term fell squarely in the era of the state's great public-works push, when canals and early railroads were knitting the commonwealth together and moving people and freight across the mountains. Built by his father in an admired colonial style, the home preserves a corner of early Pennsylvania's rising political and civic life.
Why it matters
The house connects a working western-Pennsylvania farmstead to the leadership of a fast-growing antebellum state charting its course through an age of internal improvements.
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Related people
- · William F. Johnston
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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