Dr. Daniel Houtz House Main Street Alexandria Huntingdon County ...

DR. DANIEL HOUTZ HOUSE
HABS No. PA-5401/Page 3
Conrad Bucher, one of the wealthiest merchants in Alexandria. After buying some of
the land from Dr. Trimble, he built the house on lot No. 166 as a home for his new
wife. Houtz opened Alexandria's first apothecary in 1828, perhaps inspired by his
father-in-law (Harshbarger, 27).
Dr. Houtz's investments and civic involvements were widespread. He owned an
interest in a sawmill on Clearfield Creek and land in Centre County, where he helped
develop the railroad line from Moshannon to Houtzdale. In 1835 he was elected to
the one-year position of school director; and in 1846 was appointed to head the group
charged with building a new school house. In 1857 and 1859 Houtz was a town
burgess, interrupting his time in that position in 1858 to serve as a state representative.
A member of the Presbyterian Church and one of its trustees for many years, Houtz
died in 1873 and is buried in the Presbyterian cemetery (Africa, 428-30). A stone in
the cemetery on which he is supposed to have often sat now bears his initials.
The Houtz estate included a spring about 150 yards north of the house and one
of a number of private sewage lines to the river prior to the arrival of municipal water
in Alexandria. At one time a water line also went into the cellar where there was a
butter-cooling trough, according to Swigart.
H.J. McAteer, who married Houtz's daughter and essentially became the second
owner of the house, was born in 1838 in West Township. He worked ten years for the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company (he's listed as a conductor as late as the 1870 census)
before being elected to the state legislature in 1869, and re-elected in 1870. In 1873
he became involved in the coal business in Clearfield County, and is listed in the 1880
census as a coal operator.
Like his father-in-law, McAteer was a member of the Presbyterian Church and
served as deacon in 1881 (Africa, 426). Apparendy also trained as a lawyer, McAteer
is thought to have used the second building on this estate as his office (Interview with
William Swigart). In 1882 McAteer asked permission of the insurance company to
install a telephone line into the house, and in doing so introduced Alexander Graham
Bell's invention to Alexandria (insurance-policy documentation).
PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION
A. General Statement:
1. Architectural character: The brick house is Federal-style, two stories, with a
five-bay facade.
2. Condition of the fabric: Very good.
B. Description of Exterior:
1. Overall dimensions: 45' x 36'.
2. Foundations: Rough-cut stone.
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3. Wall construction: Brick laid in Flemish-bond coursing.