THE HISTORY OF THE OGALLALA MANSION ON THE HILL
The Mansion On The Hill is owned and maintained by the Keith County Historical Society, a non-profit corporation that purchased the house from Arthur W. Campbell in January of 1966 to use as a museum and memorial to pioneer families. The subsequent restoration of the structure and landscaping of the surrounding area were made possible by the work and contributions of many local citizens and a fifteen thousand dollar grant from Mrs. Clarice Goodall of Ogallala.
L. A. Brandhoefer purchased the ground for the house from Edwin M. Searle and Eliza Searle, and paid $275 for all of Block 26, Searle�s Third Addition, 1887. Brandhoefer was a native of Pennsylvania, more recently of Iowa, who came to North Platte from York, NE, and then moved to Ogallala in September of 1885 to serve as cashier of the Bank of Ogallala. Brandhoefer was a widower whose young wife died in child birth prior to his move to Ogallala.
He contracted with W. F. Marsh of Cheyenne County to build a residence on
North Spruce Street. The house built of brick from the local brick factory, had
walls sixteen inches thick and was trimmed with
stone cut and imported from
Lincoln. Woodwork within the house, including the central staircase, was of
carved cherry wood. The fireplaces were finished with hand painted tiles imported
from New Jersey. It was Ogallala�s finest home when it was completed in
September of 1887.
Brandhoefer did not live in the house long. In 1888 he sold it to H. L. McWilliams, the proprietor of the Keith County Bank, built on the corner of Spruce and First Street in 1886. The McWilliams family moved into the house at once, and Mrs, McWilliams entertained there a great deal. Her parties were often written up in the local newspapers. Brandhoefer married Miss Mary Watts in May of 1889, and both were frequent guests at the McWilliams mansion.
The house had nine spacious rooms and two baths. It has ten foot ceilings and deep narrow windows with walnut shutters designed for interior use. The hardware throughout the house is solid brass with scroll designs on the plates, door knobs and hinges. All rooms have carved corner blocks and panel inserts on the door and window frames.
The first floor rooms include a large parlor with bay windows on the east side of the house. The parlor ceiling has covered 16 inch moldings made of plaster in four foot lengths. The library, dining room, bedroom, kitchen, hall and bath complete the first floor. Three large bedrooms and another bath were located on the second floor. The bathroom was changed some years back to a nursery.
A single room on the third floor has two dormer windows and was probably used as a maid�s bedroom when the McWilliams lived here. It is presently used for displaying photographs.
A wide variety of furnishings of the period have been collected by the Historical Society, and the past year a complete restoration of the kitchen was completed. The mansion was the home of Ogallala�s mayor just before World War I, and in 1918 it was used as a hospital. For a while in the "Twenties" it was an apartment house.