Times Observer file photo The Irvine-Newbold house in a 1926 photo.

The Warren County Historical Society is offering an opportunity later this month to walk in the steps of one of the county’s most famous families.

A tour of the Irvine-Newbold Estate in Irvine is scheduled for June 30 at 6 p.m.

“The Irvine family claimed ownership of the lush and rich grounds after General William Irvine first scouted this area in 1787,” according to the Warren County Historical Society. “He selected a large portion of the area along the Allegheny River for his family. A sprawling estate was erected and quickly became the picture of prosperity.”

Irvine was born, raised and studied medicine in Ireland, emigrating to the North American continent in the 1760s, according to an article on the family from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

William established a medical practice in Carlisle and married in the early 1770. While he had served in the British navy, he would join the patriot cause in the Revolutionary War.

Times Observer file photo Ladies lounge on one of the porches of the Irvine-Newbold mansion. The structure was razed in 1973.

“In 1779 William was promoted to brigadier general, and began corresponding regularly with George Washington about military recruitment and strategy,” the state Historical Society article details. “Their correspondence continued throughout the war. ‘I am obliged to you for [your advice],” Washington wrote to William in 1782. ‘I wish always that you would propose to me any enterprizes you may think of advantage and my endeavours shall not be wanting to promote them.'”

It was the general’s grandson, Dr. William Irvine that “further developed the area now called Irvine and expanded the house his father had begun, known as the Newbold Mansion before it was demolished,” according to the Warren County Historical Society.

His wife, Sarah Duncan Irvine, was the driving force behind the stone structure that we now know as the Irvine Presbyterian Church.

William and Sara’s youngest child, Sarah Duncan, married Thomas Newbold, per the state Historical Society article. The couple had five daughters and only one married.

That’s the origin of the Newbold connection.

“Three of them, Mary, Daisy, and Esther, made their home together, continuing to move between Philadelphia and Brokenstraw as they had in their childhood, the article explains. “Bonnie, the fourth sister, lived for a time with Mary, Daisy, and Esther… Elizabeth died in 1929, Bonnie in 1931, and Mary in 1933. Without Elizabeth and Bonnie to visit, and with their own health declining, Daisy and Esther spent more and more time in seclusion at Brokenstraw. As they aged and their money dwindled, the farm buildings and the house began to deteriorate…. Esther was by that time an invalid, but she stubbornly refused to leave the house, and she was cared for there by hired nurses until her death in 1963.”

The mansion was demolished a decade later.

The tour later this month will show what’s left.

“Fortunately, and interestingly, remnants of the once great property are still there including the ice house along the water’s edge and various foundation pieces,” the Warren County Historical Society said in a statement.

The tour will be led by Zaakiyah Cua, district archaeologist for the Bradford District of the Allegheny National Forest.

Cua holds a master’s degree in applied archaeology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania

“For the tour of the Irvine-Newbold Estate,” the Historical Society said, “Cua will plan to focus on the state of the property, where and what the buildings were, what is gone and damaged, and a general background history of the Irvine family.”

Those wishing to take the tour should meet at the Wilder Museum, 51 Erie Ave., Irvine, at 6 p.m. The cost for the tour will be $5 per person with proceeds to benefit the Wilder Museum.

A reminder that proper footwear is a must.

The Wilder Museum is open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays during the summer.

Among a host of exhibits, the Museum displays a full-scale model of the Irvine-Newbold Mansion.

Anyone looking for more information is asked to visit (814) 723-1795, warrenhistory.org or find the Wilder Museum on Facebook.