Folly or Just Victorian Pleasures
By W. Richard Cowell, Esq.
Located in Harborcreek Township overlooking the banks of Lake Erie stands a small turret, the stone walls of which reach not much more than eleven feet high and are capped by a wooden conical roof. It has an arched doorway facing the lake, a circular window opening approximately halfway up, which would catch the morning sun, and an arched window opening, which would catch the afternoon sun. There are no signs that any of these openings ever had windows or doors attached but, rather, are bare openings in the walls. The interior is about eight feet in diameter with stone-mortared walls about twenty inches thick. It has essentially stood undisturbed for the past 100 or more years. Its purpose is not obvious, and most viewers will guess that it had some adventurous or playful use in its design.
The most common thoughts are that it was to watch or signal ships upon the lake, or it was built as a play spot for children, but no one is ever quite satisfied with their guesses. To find the answer, it helps to look to the people who would have owned and used the property shortly before and after 1900.
The Galbraith family, William A. and Fanny, owned several properties in Erie County, including their primary home, the site of what is now the Woman’s Club of Erie on the southeast corner of West Sixth Street and Myrtle Street. As early as 1852, William A. Galbraith had part ownership in portions of Irvine’s Reserve, in Harborcreek Township, consolidating his interests by about the mid-1880s. The Galbraiths created a “cottage” or summer residence along the banks of Lake Erie near Six-Mile Creek, which included the parcel upon which is now found the stone tower. Fanny Galbraith survived her husband, William, and upon her death, passed title to the properties unto her sons, John W. and Davenport Galbraith. The sons separated their titles, with Davenport and his wife, Winifred, taking the West Sixth Street and Harborcreek properties.
Winifred D. Galbraith was an avid reader and a talented amateur artist. She had the stone tower built as a suitable place for her to sketch and paint, as well as read, giving her shelter from the sun or rain when the occasion required while giving her access to the land and seascape. It was not unlike the Victorians to go to such extravagant measures to provide for those small pleasures.
The stone tower still stands, children playing and occasional picnickers about. There is probably no one alive who can remember it having last been used as an artist’s shelter or some good-weather reading spot, but that was its original purpose.
However, “Folly,” or not, it’s still not a bad idea!
All information for “Tales & Treasures” comes from source material found in the archives of the Harborcreek Historical Society. Such material may be based on facts, family legends or popular history. Anyone having substantiated conflicting data please contact the Society.
