The New Mansion House            

218 Fourth Ave.                Volume 2 Historic Buildings in Warren County

               The land later used for the construction of the Mansion House was originally owned by Jacob Snow, alias Spotted Coat, an Indian who had bought the lot of land for $8.00. When the stone building was built for use as a tavern after 1833, Ebenezer Jackson set a precedent for its long life as a tavern and a hotel.

               The stone used for the two-foot-thick walls is believed to have been locally quarried near the top of Tanner Hill. Born as the Warren Hotel, the house was purchased by Robert Falconer for use as the Lumberman’s Bank in 1835. A reinforced closet still in the house served as a back vault. Archibald Tanner purchased it in 1837 after the bank failed. From that point on, it became the Tanner House. In 1846 it changed again, this time to the Diamon House, advertised as “convenient for the traveling public generally but especially for Judges, Jurors, Witnesses, parties, and all others having business at Court or the Public Offices at anytime.” The building was a popular public building when owned by the Woman’s Club and later by the Philomel Club. At one time concerts were held there, the Warren Shakespeare Club met here and cotillions took place.

Courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society