(gentle music) - [Narrator] About an hour south of Pittsburgh, along the western banks of the Monongahela River, is a town with a rich and colorful past.

Monongahela, or Mon City, is one of the oldest cities in the region.

With just over 4,000 people, it has four landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places, including Monongahela Cemetery, Bethel AME Church, one of the oldest black churches in the region, and a home owned by Edward Acheson, a famous chemist and inventor.

Also on the list... - [Laura] Structurally, the house is wonderful.

- [Narrator] Another home, this one built in 1872 by an Irish immigrant named David Longwell.

- Captain Longwell was a riverboat captain.

One of the things that I really like about the house, that I think reflects the riverboat connection to his career, there's a round window in the front that looks like a portal, and that would have been put in because he was a captain.

When looking at the exterior of the home, you could almost put your hand anywhere and there would be something that we would have to do.

There's no shortage of work to be done.

- [Narrator] Laura Magone is president of the Monongahela Area Historical Society.

The Longwell House is their new home.

(gentle music) This section of town, near Chess Park, is also known for its connection to the Underground Railroad.

Here from the site of this house, runaway slaves were spirited across the Mon River to continue their journey to freedom.

Research on the Longwell Home also turned up other information.

- It's an Italianate style.

John Blythe was a local architect who designed this home and many other homes in Monongahela.

This home is located in what's called the Historic District.

Captain Longwell originally had a home at the other end of the property, closer to the river.

- [Charles] They had a house that was on Union Street, right in the back here.

- [Narrator] Charles Talbert knows the history of this region and this house.

- Around 1871, Union Street was marked out as where the Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Charleston railroad was going to be laid.

So, David and his wife decided that they needed to get Blythe to design a house on the upper end of the lot.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] In it's day, the Longwell House was a stunning example of 19th century architecture, but over the years, sections of the exterior started to fall apart.

- The home is in excellent condition in many ways, but there are many parts of the home that have deteriorated and need to be restored.

And this house has four chimneys.

We weren't even aware that it had four chimneys.

Three of them had to be rebuilt, and the fourth one had to be repointed.

If we look on this side, the bay window is one of the prominent features of the home and it has badly deteriorated.

There's actually places where water could come in, so this is top on our list, to have this done.

We have to do work on each of the individual windows in the home.

They've been let go over time, they don't open.

We will be restoring them, not replacing them.

(upbeat music) At the top of the house there's gingerbread.

The name for them is corbels, and some of them are missing right now, so our goal before winter is to get the roof replaced, get the bay window repaired, get the corbels replaced.

It's a big job.

- [Narrator] And so is another future project.

Ken Kulak is the architect.

- One of our goals is to have the porch restored back to the way it originally was designed and built for the house.

Well, the shadow of the columns and the profile of the columns is still shown on the brick, so it's left its own footprint for us.

And there are records of course, in photographs.

So, that's a wonderful way that the building sort of leaves its own history for us to reuse again.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] Renovations inside the home are not as extensive, but some areas do need immediate attention.

- [Laura] The interior of the house, it's in decent shape.

When you enter the home, the first thing that you'll be struck by is the grand staircase that leads up to the second floor.

We do have to repair that, because it's very loose, so it's not safe right now.

The home has very beautiful fireplaces and mantels, downstairs and upstairs.

And it has beautiful doors on the inside.

You will notice quite a bit of pink in the house, so we do want to de-pink the house a little bit.

- [Narrator] And at some point, the Historical Society would also like to replace the kitchen.

- In the back right-hand corner of the home, you'll see where part of the kitchen was.

The other part of the kitchen, extended outdoors right here, and the cooking was actually done outside of the home in case there would have been a fire.

- [Narrator] Other projects on the wishlist, making the home accessible for older people and those with disabilities.

- So we want to do something that's gonna be complimentary to the house.

- We need all hands on deck right now.

- [Narrator] And those are the words Captain Longwell might've said on one of his riverboats.

He died in this house at the age of 85 after suffering heart failure and falling down the cellar stairs.

His tragic demise ended up as an urban legend.

Some say Longwell still haunts this house, which is now on the Mon City's ghost walk tour.

- I have never seen or heard anything, so it depends who you ask.

Some people will tell you they've seen things in the window.

It's all subject to opinion and interpretation.

- No, I think he's buried in Mingo Cemetery, but I don't think it's David (laughing) - [Narrator] It's going to take time, patience, and money to bring this house back to its former glory, but this town and its people are known for their resilience and commitment.

(gentle music) - I believe that the renovation of the Longwell House will manifest itself in increased interest in Monongahela history, and I think it will be good for Monongahela.

- How special it would be for me, is to see this old structure brought back to life and vitality in the community, and someone will look back on us and judge what we were able to do, because these structures are gonna outlive us.

- We view this home as a community asset, not an asset of the Monongahela Area Historical Society.

We're doing this for the community.

We want to find a way to preserve this home, but prepare it so that it will be here for hundreds of years to come, to be enjoyed by many generations.