ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) -- The Langdon family was one of the leading families in Elmira in the second half of the 19th century. Mark Twain and his wife Olivia Langdon made their three story mansion that once sat at North Main and West Church Street apart of local history. Furniture from the home is now on display at the Chemung County History Museum.

"It once stood where the Langdon Plaza stands today and it was as grand and elegant a mansion as you would find in Elmira," says Director Bruce Whitmarsh, Chemung County Historical Society. "At a time when Elmira was very, very wealthy, there were plenty of wealthy people, and when it was torn down in 1939, there were people who were sorry to see it go then and to this day."

The Langdon Mansion was built in 1865. Each room served a purpose; it ranged from Olivia's Sitting Room to Mark's Office. A firm called Poitier and Stymus designed and redecorated the Langdon home twice to make it trendy and stylish for the day and age.

"The furnishings that they paid for and and the firm they hired were, you know, the, the leading edge of fashion. You know for what your house should look like in the 1870s and 1890s, the two times the firm was hired. So they, they were forward-thinking people, fashion conscious people, aware of we're wealthy and because we're wealthy, things should look a certain way, and they made sure their home looked that way," explained Whitmarsh.

The mansion stood for around 75 years before being demolished in 1939 at the end of the Great Depression. The next generation of Langdon's were offered the home after Samuel and Olivia passed away. The surviving children said they did not want to posses the property, so they offered it to the City of Elmira for $50,000. The City of Elmira did not want to invest the lump sum into the Langdon home, so it was demolished and turned into a shopping plaza by 1940.

"This is the place Mark Twain got married. It was an incredibly stylish mansion. The Langdon's were sort of leaders in the community of. This is what it means to be wealthy and stylish and forward-looking and, it just became a part of. Langdon was such an important part in Elmira that it really becomes a part of sort of Elmira's identity," says Whitmarsh.

"The Grand, Domestic and Truly Comfy: The Langdon Mansion" in Elmira exhibit will be on display at the Chemung County History Museum through May, 2025.