Fire Damages Historic Western Pennsylvania Mansion

A historic mansion that served as a boarding school for girls in the mid-19th century has been badly damaged by fire in western Pennsylvania.

The former Edgeworth Female Seminary building caught fire Wednesday afternoon and flames spread quickly throughout the structure. The private residence sustained heavy damage in the blaze, which took about 50 firefighters more than three hours to put out.

Edgeworth Fire Chief Tim Scott says it’s likely the building’s wooden frame helped the fire spread quickly. No injuries were reported.

The mansion was built in the mid-1800s and the seminary named for Irish writer Maria Edgeworth. The borough took the school’s name when it was founded in 1904.