The capital city of Pennsylvania is named for John Harris, Jr. as is the mansion he built overlooking the Susquehanna River in 1766. He chose the site for his mansion to keep it safe from periodic flooding.  In addition to operating Harris Ferry to transport goods across the river, Harris, Jr. championed for the creation of a new county near his home, established in 1785 as Dauphin County.

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For nearly 100 years, the Mansion was a private residence until 1853, when it became the Pennsylvania Female College.  After the  Civil War broke out and the school's headmaster passed away, Simon Cameron, notable statesman and member of the school's Board of Directors, bought the Harris Mansion for  $8,000.  Cameron served as Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War and later as Ambassador to Russia. During his travels across Europe, he collected décor to furnish his new home including the scenic "Versailles" by Zuber. This scenic would be installed within the newly updated solarium.

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RESTORATION: Because the roof has leaked, streams of dirty water stained the panels from top to bottom. The plaster sustained damage also: crumbling plaster up to 2 inches deep had to be removed and re plastered. Effort was put forth to save as much of the original scenics paper and inks. In-painting upon any block printed design elements were held to a minimum.  While the sky, which sustained most of the water damage, was completely repainted. Prior to any painting the complete surface was cleaned with archival erasers therefore removing surface grim which had accumulated over the years. As a preventive measure, the house committee will be covering all the solarium windows with UV protective panels.