English: The John Simson House, 127 Delaware Street at Fremont Street, Tonawanda, New York, March 2023. Built most likely in the very early 1860s (its original owner's previous home is recorded as having been destroyed by fire in 1859), this stately two-and-a-half-story brick residence is a good example of the hybridization of the Italianate and Second Empire styles that was popular at the time. The former category encompasses most of the detailing you see here - the shallow pedimented lintels over the windows and the stone sills beneath; the tall, narrow dimensions and light massing; the pedimented front portico with Doric pilasters and narrow sidelights framing the entrance - but the slate-shingled mansard roof that crowns the building, punctuated as it is by simple pedimented dormers, is a trademark feature of the latter. The rear and south side additions, seen at left and right respectively, date to about 1930, when the house was converted to apartments. Born in Cooperstown, New York, John Simson (1802-1892) moved with his family to Tonawanda as a young boy and remained a local citizen for the remainder of his long life. From humble beginnings as a farmer living in a log cabin in what was then largely an untamed wilderness, Simson elevated himself to the status of one of the most respected men in the city: by the time he had this house built for himself, he was already well on his way to prominence as a real estate investor, and he also dabbled in politics, culminating in a term as a member of the State Assembly in 1872. Simson lived in the house until his death.