From mansion to meeting place: The Buchwalter House and the Woman’s Town Club of Springfield

For over a century, the Woman’s Town Club of Springfield has maintained 805 East High Street as a social and civic center for women. The club is operated entirely by members who give their time and talent to maintain the historic home, garden, and grounds. 

Located on “Millionaire’s Row”,  just a few blocks from the Westcott House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the house was built in an Italianate architecture style by Railroad Master George Wallace in 1852 and was intended to be a home.

Three families have called the historic building home since its construction. Wallace, who made additions to the house, sold it in 1870 to the Clark family. With eight children, the Clark family also extended the house to include a bigger dining room, kitchen, and more bedrooms upstairs to accommodate their family.

The Clark family later sold it to Captain Edward Lyon Buchwalter and his wife, Clementine, in 1893, who gutted the interior of the house and transformed the exterior to be Queen Anne, a style that was popular at the time.

According to information provided by the Woman’s Town Club of Springfield, Clementine was heavily involved in many social issues on a local level, like libraries. Alongside the Ohio Federation of Women’s Clubs committee, Clementine worked to get the State Library open to the public and created the first traveling library system in Ohio, allowing books from the State Library to be sent to clubs and then checked out by local residents. Additionally, she also tackled Industrial School reform and other social issues like child labor laws.

She is largely credited as the founder of the Ohio Federation of Women’s Clubs, serving as director from its inception, and was later made Honorary President for Life. Clementine was heavily involved in the creation of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs as well, and was named Honorary Vice President and listed on the Founder’s Roll prior to her death. 

While she lived at the house, it became a mecca for women’s activities. Every General Federation of Women’s Clubs president, except the first, and many other club women visited the Buchwalter. 

Current Woman’s Town Club Member Kim Buchwalter, whose husband is a descendant of the Buchwalters, located and archived much of the information in the museum booklet. She explains that before the opening of the Woman’s Town Club, the women’s clubs across Springfield relied on churches, members’ homes, and the YWCA for meeting spots. 

“For a long time, the women of the different clubs all over Springfield would meet at various locations such as churches or one of their own homes,” Kim says. “They eventually wanted to establish their own clubhouse dedicated to the purposes of each subjective institution.”

By 1922, Edward Buchwalter decided to offer the club women of Springfield the Buchwalter mansion, offering to contribute $5,000 of the $25,000 needed to purchase, with the agreement that the club women would raise the remainder.

“At this point, the many different clubs united to form the Woman’s Town Club, to obtain their long desire to have a clubhouse of their own,” Kim explains. “When they wanted to gather here, the individual club could buy a membership and have their meetings here. You could also be an individual member for just $6 a year at that time. They had over 400 original members within two years. Because of this, they were able to pay off their mortgage debt and build a large tea room by 1924.”

The Woman’s Town Club hosts weekly members’ meetings at the Buchwalter House, as well as public events such as open houses, style shows, holiday tea, and guest speakers. 

The house is also available to rent for events, but as a membership perk, members aren’t required to pay the rental fee. To join and be a member, there is an annual fee of $390, which goes toward maintaining the house and grounds.

With the help of the Buchwalter House Foundation, which fosters the restoration and improvement of the historic home, the Woman’s Town Club has been granted money to update their restroom, replace storm windows in the Tea Room, restore the “Luther” bedroom upstairs, install a period appropriate lamppost, and repair the front door portico and exterior restore. Additionally, they’ve also added a new retaining wall, addressed the drainage structural work, and added a security system.

Woman’s Town Club President Patricia Bowen says nothing is more gratifying than the community of the Woman’s Town Club, which she refers to as more of a family. She’s been a member for 20 years and, like many other club members, has spent hours assisting with the upkeep of the clubhouse. 

“We are like a family,” Bowen says. “We have many widows and retired women. The way we meet is neat, and we’ll play cards or eat. It’s a social outing. Lots of retired nurses and teachers, and housewives as well. We might do things outside of here together, but we do take care of one another.” 

For more information on membership, public events, fundraisers, or the club’s history, visit the Woman’s Town Club website or follow them on Facebook.