In honor of Ridgway’s Bicentennial, we continue our monthly series highlighting homes in Ridgway’s Historic Lily of The Valley Historic District in the words of local historian Bob Imhof.

334 South Street – Built in 1904

Georgian Colonial Revival

Built in 1904 by Abraham Lincoln Bell, who was a schoolteacher in Jefferson County until he moved to Ridgway in 1887 under the employment of J.H. McEwen Manufacturing Company, predecessor of the Ridgway Dynamo and Engine Company that eventually became the Elliott Company.

He began as a boilermaker and eventually became the company’s President and General Manager. He was the President of the Ridgway School Board for fifteen years, and was instrumental in establishing the Ridgway Y.M.C.A.

This grand home was built in Georgian Colonial Revival style. The restored half round porch is the only one of its kind in town. The staircase is graced with an oversized landing that is filled with a fireplace and a matching pair of stained-glass windows. Below the staircase is a sunken library paneled in oak with a dramatic fireplace and built in window seat.