A map showing Forestville in 1854, courtesy of Library of Congress.

Congratulations to the OBSERVER and staff for their excellent coverage of the Historic Marker ceremony for the Pierce/Adams home at 21 Pearl St. in Forestville.

The late Judge Lee Towne Adams, and his wonderful family, would surely wish that the record be corrected as follows:

The 1870 house at 21 Pearl is neither the first house in Forestville, nor the first historic home in Forestville. Instead, it is the first home to receive official, historic designation from a publicly funded entity. As may be seen on the Chautauqua County map of 1854, Forestville was well populated with many homes 16 years before the Pierce/Adams house was built.

Those homes were two to five decades older than the Pierce/Adams house, and many of those earlier homes replaced even earlier cabins.

This fact does not diminish the historic and architectural significance of the Pierce/Adams home. Indeed, the Adams family’s arduous effort to publicly designate this historic house was also undertaken to help designate all of Forestville as a finely preserved example of the many small settlements which dotted early Chautauqua County.

Additionally, some folks to be commended for the restoration of this home are Jacob Fry, Bill Astry, Dave Morley, Stacy Mierzwa, Mark Fowler, Jeane Conti, Jeannie Henderson, and Jane Adams.

Further congratulations are in order to Merv and Nancy Adams Fry, Carol Adams, Benjamin Buchanan, Douglas Buchanan, and to their families, friends, and colleagues, for their amazing accomplishment.

Wendy Straight is the volunteer coordinator for the Chautauqua County Historic Building Styles map.