Auguste Beaune built his factory on Rose Street, behind the small frame house he built for his family. When the railroad built a line along the Rushing River a few miles to the East, Beaune built a branch line from the factory to Dingman's Hat (the town now known as Stapleton). He christened the line The Beauneville Municipal Railway, and shipped his cider by railway car. Since the railroad tracks ran down the middle of Rose Street, townspeople renamed the street Railroad Avenue. The name stuck.
And indeed, there were townspeople. Skilled craftsmen moved to Beauneville to work in the Beaune Valve Works; to house them, Beaune built small wood-framed cottages on the streets between Main and Railroad. In the next exhibit, you can see a number of black-and-white photographs of the cottages, and some pictures of the factory with workmen posing proudly.
Inspired by Ruskin's Stones of Venice, Beaune also began to plan a grand manor house in Venetian Gothic style to house his own family. In the sketches and architectural drawings on display, you can see the basic elements of the house as it exists today, in the form of a large "H", with two large wings attached to a center section of equal length.
Beaune expected that each of his two sons, their wives and children would occupy the North and South wings of the manor house, respectively, while Beaune, Marie-Helene, Mary and the three daughters would live in the center section.
The eldest son, Robert, was old enough to work in the Valve Works, where he was an exemplary manager. The younger son, John, on the other hand, showed no interest whatsoever in his father's business, instead choosing to race around on horseback and harass the young women of the town. He drank heavily, gambled and constantly got himself into trouble in the taverns of Dingman's Hat.
On an April day, Beaune set aside his concerns about his younger son long enough to lay the first stone of his grand manor house. There was great celebration; all the men employed at the Beaune Valve Works set aside their tools for the day, and apple-growers from throughout Washington County gathered to see the spectacle. There were musicians, and dancing, and copious quantities of apple brandy.
That same day, Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter.
