While fireplaces served as the gathering place in the house, by the time the Collins House was constructed in the early 1840s, the design of the fireplace had changed. The period in history known as the Industrial Revolution gave birth to larger scale housing developments, and this created the necessity for a smaller, more standardized fireplace.

Fireplaces continued to be centered on the wall to allow more family members to gather around to seek the warmth they generated, but their shape had changed, going from a large open design where food could also be cooked, to a smaller size. By the mid-1800s, fireplaces were being constructed with two parts: (1) the insert where the heat was generated, and (2) a decorative surround that included side supports as well as the mantle.