One of the things I get asked about a lot is the Queen’s Mansion.

It stood in Farrandsville, for a time.

Here’s the deal: In the 1850s, Queen Maria Christina of Spain had some excess money from the sale of Florida to America.

She took a lot of that and invested it here in Clinton County, on the advice of her agents, John and Christopher Fallon.

She bought property and invested in iron making, coal mining, and other industries.

She had the Fallon Hotel built, and a mansion out in Farrandsville, in case she ever wanted to come and visit.

So, let me begin by clearing up a couple of misconceptions.

No, the Queen never came here. She may have intended to, but never actually stayed in any of the buildings she financed.

No, the mansion wasn’t way up on the mountain. It was much further down, by the Susquehanna.

You can actually still find the foundation of it, if you know where to look.

No, Queen’s Run isn’t named for the Queen.

It started out as Quinn’s Run, after Samuel Quinn, a hunter out there, and was eventually mispronounced, and that was that.

But yes, bits of the mansion were saved — The windows and pillars were built into 104 E. Water St., the Griffin Building.

There’s one photo in existence of the mansion, to the best of my knowledge.

It shows a grand mansion, with tall pillars and curvy windows, built up against the hillside. It looks like a beautiful place, but I’ve never known what the interior looked like.

Not until now.

I’m pleased to say I had a little help on this one — Mary Elizabeth Crocker of the Ross Library did some research on this back in 1939, and gave her information to the Lock Haven Express.

And it led to a whole article that involved a detailed description of what the Queen’s Mansion looked like on the inside.

It was four stories, with the four pillars (Currently on the Griffin Building) reaching up to an extension of the fourth floor.

This extension was a theater, with a stage and dressing rooms.

Down below, upon entering the building, you’d be in the basement, but this wasn’t just the Queen’s storage area.

There were two large living rooms and a laundry room, with a well a hundred feet deep.

There’s a story of a woman falling down and never being recovered, which will be a good one the next time I want to write about local hauntings.

“Approach to the upper floors from the outside was through a stone archway with a dozen stone steps,” the article said.

“The doorway was flanked by glass of rare beauty. The stairway was widely noted for its fine carving; it never lost any of its glamour through the years.”

The article notes that though other parts were moved into other buildings, the fate of the stairway was unknown.

On the third floor were four grand bedrooms, with a spiral staircase that ran from the attic to the basement.

All of the rooms had fireplaces, with mantles made from the best quality marble from Europe.

The building had “speaking tubes” running throughout, so that someone could call into one and, presumably, summon a servant without leaving the room.

Outside, the yard contained a cabinet shop, a storage area, a barn, and a stable.

Very nearby was a building that was used as an office for the Queen’s employees, and also a tavern. (I think anyone who has ever worked in an office will agree that this was not such a bad arrangement.)

This was said to be haunted, as well, due to an argument that broke out and resulted in a death, the body being buried underneath the floorboards.

Though the Queen never visited, the property was used — Rented out for visitors and church services.

It no longer stands, but it was an impressive part of our history. You can bet I’ll be trying to find out what happened to that staircase.

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Lou Bernard is a Lock Haven resident with a keen interest in the history of this area. He is adult services coordinator at Ross Library and may be reached at loulhpa@gmail.com or 570-660-4463.