Sturgeon House

The Sturgeon House is a saltbox house dating from around 1838 in Fairview, Erie County PA. The home was built thirty years after the Sturgeon family settled in what is now Fairview, being one the earliest families to pioneer the area. The Sturgeon House is now operated as museum by the Fairview Area Historical Society. It is also known for its distinct shape when seen from the front and that often confused by visitors as the side of the house.

Jeremiah and William Sturgeon were the earliest settlers of what is now Fairview Township, who acquired land from the Pennsylvania Population Company in 1797. The Sturgeons operated "coach stops and taverns" in the area for travelers after the first road was cut from Erie to Cleveland, OH in 1805. They founded the community of Sturgeonville, which eventually became Fariview. The house was built around 1838 by Samuel C. Sturgeon and is one of several built by the Sturgeons. The southern addition of the house was possibly constructed in the early 1850s. The Sturgeon House was sold to the Fairview Area Historical Society in 1979 by a descendant of the Jeremiah Sturgeon

The house is a rare example of a saltbox house in northwestern Pennsylvania, as well as a house with a recessed side porch. The house is constructed of "stone foundation walls and topped with heavy timber sills which are notched to receive log form beams." The roof of the house is slanted at an angle of 30 degrees. The front door is framed by a cornice and Federal-style entablature and pilaster.

"The Sturgeon House." Fairview Area Historical Society. Accessed July 18, 2016. http://fairviewhistoryeriecountypa.org/sturgeonhouse.htm Freeman, Sabina S. "The Sturgeons and Coming to Fairview." Sturgeon and Allied Families Association. Accessed July 18, 2016. http://www.sturgeonreunion.org/the-sturgeons-coming-to-fairview/