In the shadow of the Pagoda, at 1501 Mineral Spring Road, sits the Hawthorne; mansion of the late George F. Baer. A statement to his influence, the Baer moniker still echos throughout Reading to present day. You may recognize it as the namesake of a park at the far northwest reaches of the city and a 7-story building on Court street behind the Post Office. But who was this successful attorney who forged his fortune from coal, iron and rail – propelling himself to the very top of not only Reading, but regional high society by the end of the 19th century?

George Frederick Baer

From humble beginnings, George was born the youngest of eight children on September 26th, 1842 in Somerset County. The 1850 census lists his father, Solomon, as an Innkeeper, and by 1860 a farmer. Upon reaching adulthood George was interested in printing and became employed at his local paper, the Somerset Democrat, which he purchased in 1861 with his older brother Harry. With the threat of Civil War looming, the young George raised a company for the 133rd Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, despite his staunchly Democrat leanings. He was elected the regiment’s Captain in 1861 and saw combat; allegedly participating in the second battle of Bull Run. After the war Baer completed his studies in law, passing the bar by 1864. In 1866 he married Emily Kimmel, also of Somerset. They moved to Reading around 1868 and by 1870 he began working as counsel for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. By 1875 his intention at involvement in Railroad business was clear – he was elected President of the Reading and Lehigh Railroad.

Ruthless in the courtroom, George Baer’s law practice grew, as did his wealth. He represented the likes of the P&R Railroad, the State of Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. This wealth was evident by the fact that that in 1877 the then 35-year-old had the means to construct his Hawthorne Mansion, one of the most impressive dwellings in Reading at the time. This eastern section of the city at the southern base of Mount Penn was largely undeveloped when he purchased the 3 acres on which he would construct his estate. It was announced in the Reading Times officially in May of 1877. That article also mentions that the walls of the residence would be made of mountain stone quarried on Mount Penn, “near the White Spot” (Drenkel’s Field).

George and Emily had five daughters, the oldest of which was 10 by the time Hawthorne was completed in 1878. All five daughters were married or held their receptions on the property. Eldest daughter Marion’s wedding was the first in October 1896, Emily in 1901 and then again in 1915. One thing I noted while researching was that all five Baer daughters married and had children well into their 30s, which while normal now would have been considered late by turn of the 20th century standards.

In 1899 it was reported in the Reading Times that Mrs. Baer had fallen down the stairs from the second to first floor. She was injured, but nothing was broken.

Of course the home was host to a variety of Pennsylvania’s elite class. George’s ability as an attorney eventually led to his being the close personal advisor of John Pierpont Morgan, famous for his financial influence in reorganizing and consolidating businesses – particularly railroads – around the turn of the 20th century.

In 1900 the Baer building at 529 Court street was constructed. Baer’s original building actually sits directly behind this structure facing Washington Street, connected by their rears. The June 2nd, 1900 Reading Times described it, “the basement and first floor front will be faced with Indiana limestone and the rest of the building of brick and terra cotta to match.” This 7-story beaux-arts style building served as offices for the Reading Iron Company, in which George was involved.

In 1901 George became President of the Reading Railway Company. He purchased 1718 Spruce Street in Philadelphia around that time, in which Hawthorne became the Baer family’s summer residence. He had his own private train to take him between cities, and anywhere else he needed to go.

Shortly after George took the helm of the railroad, labor tensions arose. In May of 1901 the 1,600 workers of the Reading Iron Company went on strike because the company refused to restore a 10 percent cut in wages that they had made the previous fall. George Baer ordered the strikers be locked out of the mills and their employment terminated. In June 1,200 P&R shop workers joined the strike in demanding a 10% increase in wages. The railway strike ended July 2nd and the ironworkers two weeks later, all of which were rewarded higher wages as a result of their fortitude.

An all out strike on his anthracite mines in June 1902 caused coal shortages. By Fall the economic impact was felt in households across the entire country who relied on it to heat their homes. The situation became so dire that President Theodore Roosevelt involved himself and after weeks of failed mediation opened a commission into the investigation of the cause of the coal strike. Roosevelt became furious at Baer’s unwillingness to arbitrate with union leaders. Finally, in March of 1903 the commission reached its verdict and ordered that the company award the miners an increase in wages and reduction in working hours.

Shortly after the strike began, a Wilkes-Barre man wrote to George, asking him to arbitrate with the miners, and wrote that he “hoped God would send the Holy Spirit to reason with your heart“. Baer wrote back on official P&R Railway letterhead, “I do not know who you are. I see that you are a religious man; but you are evidently biased in favor of the right of the working man to control business in which he has no other interest than to secure fair wages for the work he does. I beg of you not to be discouraged. The rights and interests of the laboring man will be protected and cared for – not by the labor agitators, but by the Christian men to whom God in his infinite wisdom has given the control of the property interests of the country, and upon the successful management of which so much depends.“

His letter was leaked and published in newspapers all over the United States, accompanied with scathing editorials. A 1909 Toledo News-Bee article described George “Divine Right” Baer as “cold, aristocratic and relentless.” Yet, a local Eagle piece from the same year titled, “Mr. Baer as the public does not know him” painted him in a gentler light. “This is the verdict of his friends, who see what the cold, unreasoning world does not see behind the mask which responsibilities of great business enterprises, of pith and moment indeed, have cast over the countenance of the man in whose control are the anthracite fields.” The article goes on to cite Baer’s civic achievements and philanthropic efforts, including assisting in the establishment of the Reading Library and the Reading Parks Commission. It describes his favorite past time as playing golf at the Berkshire Country Club. “Mr. Baer is a calm, deliberate man, as any one would guess who sees him for the first time. His associates say that in argument he is cold and incisive, though always mild of speech, except when in practicing law he would be roused by passion, as in an appeal to a jury. He does not walk with erect head, but inclines it forward slightly, like one in deep meditation“.

The P&R Railroad had a policy that reaching age 70 was required retirement. However, as his 70th birthday approached, George announced he would not step down as the head of the railway.

On September 27th, 1913 a party for George’s 71st birthday was held at the Hawthorne Mansion. A Reading Times article mentioned that all of his daughters and their families would be arriving for the occasion, as well as George’s only living brother, Herman. It would be the last significant event held by the family in the home. Shortly after he and Emily retired to Philadelphia for the winter. George Baer died there on April 26th, 1914 after he collapsed while walking to work. He had been suffering from kidney disease for some time, and perished in his Philadelphia home a few hours later – just a few weeks before he was set to return to Hawthorne for the summer.

Emily returned to Reading permanently as her husband’s $3 million estate was split between she and her daughters. She was given the mansion – where she remained until she died in her bed there from a heart attack on October 21st, 1915.

The Hiester’s

After the death of Emily Baer the mansion was inherited in equal parts by each of their five daughters. Only two were still local to the Reading area, and daughter Mary Baer Hiester bought out her sisters and moved her family into the property during the summer months. She was married to Isaac Hiester in 1905, also an attorney – who studied under his future father-in-law at his firm. The couple had three children together, William, George and Emily, who were aged seven, five and three respectively when they moved in. George, who was the namesake of his grandfather, went on to build Stokesay Castle in adulthood, and became somewhat of an eccentric individual. Isaac died in 1921 of a heart attack in their main residence at 138 North Fifth Street. Around the age of 19 it was customary for girls of high society to be given a formal “debut”. In 1930 daughter Emily had her’s in the Hawthorne mansion, “in the same spot of the same high-ceiling room where in 1901 her mother stood with her mother.”

Similar to her mother, Emily didn’t marry until she was 34 in 1945. Though some of that may have been due to WWII, as she served as a member of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots. Mary lived just long enough to see her daughter married and passed away November 3rd, 1946 at 413 Oley Street, where she had lived for three years. Though her obit mentions her permanent residence as “Hawthorne”; perhaps it wasn’t safe for her to live there alone in advanced age.

In December 1947 it was reported that the Hiester children sold Hawthorne to “out-of-town” buyers, and that all of the contents of the mansion were sold at public auction. The “out-of-town” buyers were Wiley Mission Inc., who established a home for the caring of the elderly. It was called, “Hawthorne Home“, and operated under a variety of owners over the decades, including the same two men who founded the rehabilitation hospital in Isaac Eberly’s “Stone Manor” mansion. The Hawthorne was the only elderly living facility within city limits, and around 1960 a two-story addition was constructed onto the back of the home to add space to accommodate more residents. When we historically consider the possibility of a haunting, we know the only record of death in the home from within the Baer family was George’s wife Emily. However considering the home was for over half a century dedicated to the care of those nearing the end of their lives, its walls likely saw the transition of many.

Redevelopment

In 2023 operators of the care facility announced it was closing due to financial issues and the mansion was put up for sale. It was purchased in March of 2024, and the owners were granted special exemption to adaptive reuse the 22,000 square foot facility into 19 one-bedroom apartments ranging between 1,100 and 1,500 square feet. Local businessman and new owner Daniel DiStefano was kind enough to give me a tour. It is currently still as intact as it was during operations as a care facility, but that will be changing shortly. DiStefano plans to keep the beautiful woodwork that graces the home and is committed to keeping as much of the sanctity of the original structure as possible in the form of luxury apartment living.

Many lament the change of these victorian mansions into apartments. If done correctly, I welcome it. Very few can afford such a residence in a single family home state. Keep in mind that George Baer had an entire team of servants and groundskeepers to keep his property maintained. If this type of redevelopment gets people living in and enjoying this space again then let us consider it a win.

Baer’s legacy is still felt a century after his death. His mansion stands a testament to the rise and fall of American industrialization. Within its walls he pondered his court cases, meticulously planned his next business moves, and navigated the storm that collective bargaining brought to his bottom lines. Baer believed he was chosen by God to dictate the rights of working men, but with a wider historic retrospect, we can see his place in the larger context – merely as a means of transition. After all, only a decade after his death the Socialist concept would rise to unprecedented levels of power in the same city his Capitalist enterprises economically built. Poetically, descendants of those working men will now have the opportunity to occupy the mansion built of their labor.