The DeLong House

In 1860, Zopher and Catherine DeLong moved to Glens Falls from the Saratoga County town of Day, where Zopher had been a farmer, lumberman, and proprietor of a general store. They bought this Glen Street property, with its simple wooden house built in the early 19th century, as a home for their family of eight children and two adults. Glens Falls, on the Hudson River where it exited the Adirondack Mountains, prospered in the mid-19th century through sawmills that produced much of the country’s lumber and canal boats that carried locally manufactured lime, marble, and paper to New York City and other eastern markets, then returned with goods sought by residents pursuing a more comfortable lifestyle. Catherine and Zopher’s two eldest sons had already gone to Glens Falls to work in Daniel Peck’s hardware store, and after arriving Zopher joined the business, later acquiring it and renaming it DeLong and Son. In 1864, a devastating fire destroyed much of the downtown area, including the hardware store, but Zopher reopened quickly and prospered in the fast-growing community. Reflecting their new success, Zopher and Catherine expanded and remodeled their Glen Street home, adding a two-story brick section, perhaps mindful of the recent fire. Built in the popular Second Empire style, the house features a mansard roof, cast-iron window moldings, and brackets under the eaves typical of the also popular Italianate style. The DeLong house illuminates life in Glens Falls from the early 1860s to the early 20th century, when the family experienced technological changes from the coming of the railroad to the introduction of electricity, along with the broader social changes that shaped their community.

Glens Falls, New York · United States