MIDDLEVALE MUNICIPAL SUMMATION SERIES

ARCHIVE TITLE:   The First Family of Middlevale

Middlevale Historical Society, Copyright © 1971

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Section IV — Entry No. 34b  

     For over a century,  the Middlevale Mansion and its grounds, both beautiful and historic, have been a great source of pride for the small Midwestern town that bears its name. Marking the center of town, the home was built in 1872 as the private residence of steel magnate and town founder Cyrus Theodore Middlevale.

Cyrus was the third son of a house painter, a fact about which he was deeply ashamed. Embarrassed and determined, even as a child, Cyrus swore to himself that he would do whatever was necessary to improve his station in life.

     His chance came just past his sixteenth birthday. It was 1858, and the U.S. government, hoping to encourage westward movement and development, began selling plots of land for pennies on the dollar.  Many sought to make their fortune by investing in the land, buying low, and selling high.  However, the land market was notoriously risky and unstable. While many made their fortunes this way, far more were left bankrupt, deeply in debt, or without any savings. Without hesitation and too self-assured for a young man his age, Cyrus purchased his first tract of land, financing it with his entire savings, accumulated from years of poker victories.

By the age of nineteen, Cyrus had already amassed considerable wealth as a land  Speculator. No one would have ever described him as a man of  great intellect, but when it came to business dealings,  his uncanny knack for it was undeniable.

     Over the next several years, Cyrus started a family. He married a New York socialite, Adelaide Darcy, a woman as conceited and spoiled as she was beautiful. The couple had three children: Henry, Andrew, and Margaret, over whom his wife endlessly doted. Cyrus’s love for his family was genuine, but superficial. There was nothing more precious to him than his wealth and status. They were then and always would be, his greatest love, a truth his wife and children knew all too well.

Just before his thirtieth birthday, Cyrus found the opportunity for which he had been searching.  The nation was on the verge of a new industrial age, yet the significance of and demand for steel was largely underestimated.  But Cyrus knew its potential value and the opportunity for limitless profit. From that moment forward, he turned his full attention to mining and the manufacturing of steel.  He sent surveyors to each of  his properties, keeping only those where deep deposits of iron ore were found. Cyrus committed his entire fortune to his newest endeavor; investing in the latest machinery and building a state-of- the-art factory,  In less than a year, the Middlevale Steel & Mining Company opened. Just as Cyrus had predicted, westward-moving immigrants and pioneers arrived in droves seeking work and steady wages. The settlement grew quickly, swelling with laborers and their families, most of whom lived in tents or wagons, crowding the grounds and leaving a maze of obstacles between buildings. Mr. Middlevale, who did not like disorder, began developing the land around the mines, building long rows of small, cheaply made houses for his ever-growing workforce.

     Over the next few years, the country’s infrastructure rapidly expanded and hundreds of miles of new railway tracks were laid.  The demand for steel skyrocketed even higher than Cyrus had predicted. Middlevale Steel business grew just as fast.  Soon hundreds of employees worked the mines, operated the mills, and filled his factory. Cyrus’s desire for control and general mistrust of others led him to spend almost all his waking hours managing it. For the first few years Cyrus commuted to and from his home twice monthly. He dreaded the trip. He resented the time it took him away from the settlement, and was far too impatient for the lengthy coach and train ride it required each way.  Eventually, Cyrus resolved to eliminate this inconvenience entirely, deciding to relocate his family to the settlement. On Mr. Middlevale's following trip home, he told his wife of his plans. Addie was enraged.  She cried and screamed, throwing a tantrum like a small child. She flew into a fit of wretchedness that lasted the better part of a month. Finally, Addie, too exhausted to maintain her protest, finally acquiesced under the condition that Cyrus build her a magnificent house; one larger and more grand than any to be found in New England. Cyrus agreed to the condition, figuring it was a small price to pay to put an end to Adelaide’s tantrums.

     Cyrus ordered the immediate  construction of the Middlevale family’s new home. Unlike the housing he had built for his employees, Cyrus, keeping the promise he had made  to his wife, spared no expense in building it. The mansion was an impressive piece of architecture, and excessive in every way. It boasted three stories of rich burgundy brick, intricately carved limestone and ornate stonework. Six stained-glass  windows stretched across the mid-section of the house providing a colorful glow behind the raised balcony. A wrought-iron fence traced the meticulously manicured lawn. Flowering peach trees bloomed in the yard and gardenia bushes flanked the stone walkway. Eight polished  granite steps led up to an open veranda, where two towering Corinthian columns stood like soldiers on either side of the entrance.

The mansion was the very embodiment of excess. Just as Addie had requested, the stately home was deliberately extravagant and an imposing monument to the Middlevale family wealth and authority. Its needless size and excess was unlike anything the settlers had ever seen. Sitting in the center of the modest settlement, the mansion seemed almost comical.  Soon after its completion, the rest of the Middlevale family arrived. Although eventually settling in, Addie and her children remained perpetually resentful and bitter, a disposition which was more likely because of  their nature more than it was a product of their circumstances.

Addie often voiced her dissatisfaction to her husband, regularly pointing out the town’s numerous flaws or reminding him of the lasting harm to their children by growing up among the ordinary lower class.

     Smug and sanctimonious, the Middlevales were not known for their hospitality. They never socialized with the townspeople, and even after many years, no one from town had ever been invited inside their home. This fostered an air of mystery, fueled by the town’s relentless curiosity about the reclusive family and the treasures and luxuries they imagined what treasures lie behind their front doors. While narcissism ran through the veins of every Middlevale, it was  Addie who reveled in it most openly. She needed attention and envy like air as much as she needed air to breathe. Occasionally, townspeople would linger by the front gate to admire the mansion and trade gossip in hushed tones. Watching them from an upstairs window was one of the few things that could lift her spirits. She relished the town’s obsession with anything Middlevale. Though she typically avoided townsfolk when possible. However, when she saw an opening to fan the flames of Middlevale intrigue and feed their hunger for rumors, she’d  skillfully insert herself into their discussions, masterfully weaving tales of exaggerated wealth, celebrity, and influence, shaping her family’s reputation to her liking. The truth was never something she cared much about. The truth was whatever Addie said it was, and no one ever questioned it. Addie She made certain that the Middlevale family remained firmly at the center of local intrigue. 

     Over time, countless narratives emerged, some factual, some fabricated, and as is common with most tales of this nature,  tended ‌to be a blend of both. Many of these accounts took root‌, persisting over time, and have become ingrained in the town's history, contributing to its charm. In addition to stories about Middlevale’s first family, almost as many centered around the mansion, particularly the home’s interior, especially its grand hall. Which is how it got its enduring nickname. Rumors spoke of a foyer that extended out in both directions, stretching out into a magnificent hall of tremendous proportions. Above the corridor, hung twenty hand-cut crystal chandeliers, suspended from the coffered ceiling, each casting an ethereal  glow. Below, a white marble floor, so translucent and without imperfection, that the surface resembled a large frozen lake. People said that the hall was so vast that Mrs. Middlevale kept a small pony and  carriage inside, she  used to traverse its length to avoid becoming winded. The tale of the Middlevale's grand hall became a town  favorite, and eventually, the mansion itself became known simply as  “The Hall.” These enduring tall tales have sustained public interest, keeping curiosity and fascination alive long after their time. 

     The Middlevale family controlled the town and the workers for several decades, but as all things do, America’s steel boom came to an end. The mines were stripped, the mills abandoned, and even the Middlevale factory had to close. Despite the end of the  Middlevale empire, Cyrus and Addie stayed in their home, and remained as aloof as ever. Many of the town’s early residents also put down roots. They raised families, started new businesses, and built new homes, increasing both the town’s  population and its geographical size.

     Though much had changed, the mansion remained the home of many Middlevale families, but as time passed, each generation became less interested in maintaining  the massive and costly home. The property began to deteriorate, showing its age and needing both repair and maintenance.  The mansion was , by that time, already a town landmark, and so the city offered to buy it. In 1951, ownership of the mansion was transferred to the city and its restoration began right away. 

     Today, the building serves as the town’s civic center. Council meetings, elections, graduations, and the holiday fair are all held within its walls and on its grounds. The local newspaper occupies the basement, and the town archives are stored on the third floor, along with a  few municipal offices. 

To outsiders, the Middlevale Mansion is a sightseeing attraction; a stop on their way to somewhere else, but to the residents of  Middlevale, the Hall is much more than just a historical landmark. It  is a link to a shared past and a symbol of the town's collective identity.