PENFIELD HOMESTEAD

     The cover art on this directory is a local artist‘s, Robert Spring, rendering of the Penfield Homestead as it looks today. It is believed that the present-day Penfield Homestead Museum was actually built in 1826. The original purpose was not a homestead but an inn with a "tap room". In 1828, the Allen and Anna Penfield family finally moved to the "homestead" in present day Ironville. They relocated with their children Daniel, Hannah, Caroline, James and Lucy Jane, who ranged in age from 13 years to a few months.

     For over 40 years Allen Penfield raised his family and ran his business from the "Homestead". In 1872 the Penfield family ended its involvement in the commerce of Irondale (now known as Ironville). After his father's passing, James and his family would return to the "Homestead" every summer except for a two year period they spent traveling in Europe, the Near East and Egypt. Colonel and Mrs. Penfield would make a leisurely trip from Boston to Crown Point that would last for days. The buggie the Penfields used for the treks is in the carriage house at the museum today.

     Miss Annie and her 2 maids would take the more direct route by train. The new rail line provided a fast and safe means of transportation. They arrived with the family baggage and barrels and crates of groceries from the finest mercantile shops in Boston. After the family was settled in to their "Homestead", long buggie rides were a organized daily. The only exceptions being bad weather and Sundays.

     The Penfield's made several improvements to the Homestead including a carriage barn built in 1877. Whether the new barn was constructed for vehicles or his beloved warhorse, Billy who lived to age of 31, it is not known. It is a fact that Billy has a marker on the lawn beside the homestead listing the battles in which the horse courageously participated.

     The Penfield’s only child, Miss Annie never married but continued to summer in Ironville until her death in 1954.

      In 1962 the extended Penfield Family completed acquisition of the Penfield Homestead and deeded it over to the Penfield Foundation. The Foundation incorporated in 1967 as a non-profit organization and began preservation work on the homestead and other related structures, including the foundations at the site of the old iron works. In 1974, the entire hamlet of Ironville earned the designation of Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The Foundation’s properties now total 550 acres, including the Homestead, the parsonage, the church, the former Penfield farm and barns, the mill pond and the site of the Crown Point Iron Company’s iron works along Putnam Creek. Membership in the Foundation is open to all that share an interest in the history and heritage of the area.