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The present day Pickwick Building sits on Lot No. 39, part of the original
plat of Middletown drawn up in 1802 by Stephen Vail. In 1812, President
James Madison granted by patent "by virtue of the right of pre-emption"
Lot No. 39 to Jacob Clark who built a small one room cabin on the site.
The cabin was purchased in 1815 by Joseph Galbreath, the first public
school teacher in Middletown. He lived there until 1828 when the property
was sold to John Mulford. Thomas Ward bought the property in 1836, tore
down the log cabin and built a Federal style brick house for $3,000
consisting of four rooms - two up and two down.
A brick addition was later built to provide more rooms and porches on both
levels. When the house became an inn, a two story frame barn was built on
the rear of the lot for stagecoach horses and sleeping quarters for the
drivers.
As the stagecoach era ended, the tavern closed and the house was purchased
by Gustave Wampler. After a series of transfers around the turn of the
century, the property was owned by Dr. David Bundy who used it as his
office. He later sold the house to the Schraffenberger family and they
returned it for use as their family home for the next 40 years.
In 1953 Harold Getz Sr. purchased the building and redesigned it into
offices for his architecture business. It was then purchased by Mr. and
Mrs. Herb Goren who used it as a gift shop and offices.
In 1983 local attorney Greg Pratt purchased the building. After extensive
renovation the building housed the law office of Pratt and Buchert and the
real estate offices of Robinson-Lawton-Kent. It received the Middletown
Historic Preservation Council award in 1985.
The Middletown Historical Society purchased the building in 2000 as its
headquarters where it houses rotating museum displays, permanent
galleries, archive collection storage and offices.
The Pickwick Building takes its name from the "Pickwick Papers" penned by
Charles Dickens in 1836, the same year the present structure was built.
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