Lewis, Harry and Molly, House
Also known as: Fiber Products Research Center
Why it's listed
Built in 1909-10 for Harry and Molly Lewis, this brick Colonial Revival house sits on a rise between East Main Street and the Beaver River in Beaver Falls, Lewis County. It has a five-bay main block with a long rear ell, hipped roofs, and a two-story pedimented portico with Ionic columns. Cast stone sills and lintels, dentil cornices, and bracketed eaves appear throughout. Inside, the entry hall has a coffered ceiling and paneled wainscoting, and the library is paneled in oak. A brick garage, a brick workshop, and an unused water pumping system with a stand pipe date from the same period. The house is tied to the J.P. Lewis Company and affiliated firms, which made paperboard and fiber products and by the mid-1960s employed over 550 people in the village. Part of the property also served as the Fiber Products Research Center, which received a 1962 patent for coated aluminum foil. The Lewises were also local philanthropists.
Significance in brief: The nomination cites Criteria A and C, with architecture and industry as areas of significance. The house embodies Colonial Revival design and was home to a family whose J.P. Lewis Company paper and fiber board businesses employed hundreds in Beaver Falls. It later housed the Fiber Products Research Center, which held a patent in 1962.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 12000956, listed November 21, 2012. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 9520 E. Main St., Beaver Falls |
|---|---|
| County | Lewis County |
| Listed | November 21, 2012 |
| Reference number | 12000956 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1909-62 |
| Architect / builder | Charles Wisner & Sons. |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Industry |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Historic functions were single dwelling and research facility; current function is listed as single dwelling. The historic water pumping system is unused but extant. |
| Acreage | 3.1 |
| Coordinates | 43.88646, -75.42598 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 12000956.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q23091874
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.