Major Bibliographical References Previous documentation on file (NPS) C State Historic Preservation Office - Other State agency - preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) - Federal agency has been requested - Local government - previously listed in the National Register - University - previously determined eligible by the National Register - Other - designated a National Historic Landmark - recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Ohio Historic Preservation Office - recorded by Historic American Engineering Record history. Bibliography purposes. Architect/Builder Criteria Considerations exploration/settlement individual distinction.
Significant Dates Period of Significance HARMONY HILL DAIRY HOUSE Name of repository: Property is: Applicable National Register Criteria Areas of Significance National Register listing) Cultural Affiliation Primary location of additional data (Enter categories from instructions) (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for CLERMONT CO., OH 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property less than one acre (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1 16 754550 4326190 - See continuation sheet. Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.) 11.
Form Prepared By date November 3, 2000 city or town_Newport _ state_KYzip code 41071- Submit the following items with the completed form: Representative black and white photographs of the property. (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items) (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name Olde Williamsburgh Inc./Harmony Hill Association street & number_3907 State Route 133 telephone 513-724-7790 city or town Williamsburg _state_OH_zip code 45176 with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service,P.0.Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
organization Photographs Boundary Justification telephone_859-581-2883 Additional Documentation Continuation Sheets Additional items Zone Easting Northing UTM References Property Owner HARMONY HILL DAIRY HOUSE A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form Paperwork Reduction Act Statement:This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page 1 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio 8. Statement of Significance The Harmony Hill Dairy House meets Criterion A and is significant in the context of exploration and settlement in the Virginia Military District of southwest Ohio. The building is one of the few surviving resources associated with the first permanent settlements in the region in the 1790s and 1800s, as surveyors explored and charted hitherto unknown lands on the western frontier, and settlers established farms and built permanent residential and agricultural buildings. It is credited as the oldest surviving building in Clermont County, the seventh county in Ohio in order of formation.
It is also the oldest standing structure in Williamsburg, the oldest town in the county and one of the earliest settlements in the Military District. The dairy house is also the only surviving building associated with Harmony Hill, the home of General William Lytle, an explorer, surveyor, land speculator, Indian fighter and civic leader. Lytle, the founder of Williamsburg, is hailed as the "father of Clermont County." Home to a United States government land office and the county's first post office, Harmony Hill played an important role in the early life of Clermont County and the surrounding region. While the building has undergone partial reconstruction and some changes have been made to its setting, it retains overall integrity. Its significance lies in the fact that it is an early and rare survivor of settlement architecture in Clermont County.
The dairy house's period of significance begins with its estimated construction date in 1800, and ends in 1809 when William Lytle left Williamsburg. Few buildings remain from the county's earliest settlements, c. 1789 to 1820. The location of the first inland settlement, in 1798, remains unknown; thus no buildings associated with it are known to have survived, if indeed any permanent structures were even constructed. Relatively few buildings recorded on Ohio Historic Inventory forms predate 1820, even fewer represent the period 1800 to 1810, and none is known to predate 1800. Of those recorded, none is comparable to the Harmony Hill Dairy House in form, materials or use. All the settlement-era buildings documented in the county are residences, taverns or inns of log, stone or brick construction. they do not represent the context of exploration and settlement in the same way.
Although there may be other surviving settlement-era agricultural buildings in the county, none has yet been recorded on Ohio Historic Inventory forms. This may not be surprising considering the subsistence nature of much early agricultural activity and the necessity of replacing outbuildings (8-86) While they may possess considerable historical or architectural significance in their own right, OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio over time. Nor have any public buildings survived from the county's first two decades.
The original courthouse in Williamsburg and its replacement in Batavia, the present county seat, both have been demolished While substantial buildings were built in Williamsburg during the 1800s and 1810s, including residences and taverns along the Little Miami River, only one is known to have survived to the present day. The Samuel W. Davies House in downtown Williamsburg, built in 1805, is linked with a significant person in the life of early Williamsburg and shares some of the dairy house's historical associations. Its integrity, however, has been somewhat compromised by insensitive alterations. The Harmony Hill Dairy House, therefore, represents a unique surviving resource in the county, associated with the early development of settlements and farms in the Military District during the 1800s.
It is the sole vestige of a property that played an important role in the early life of the community: home to a federal land office and the county's first post office. It possesses stellar associations with one of the leading citizens of southwestern Ohio during the late 18th and early 19t centuries. Integrity. The Harmony Hill Dairy House possesses a high degree of overall integrity. Its integrity of materials has been somewhat diminished by the loss of some original fabric (roof, door, window, some stonework) during its long era of neglect. The 1998 restoration/ methods of construction. Therefore the building retains integrity of design, workmanship, feeling and association.
While the construction of the brick terrace around the dairy house introduced a landscape feature that would not have been there originally, it facilitated public access to the of setting also has been somewhat compromised by the loss of other original farm structures over the past two centuries, the building is still on its original site and its immediate environs retain a Virginia Military District. In the decade before the Revolutionary War, much of southern Ohio, including what is now Clermont County, was part of Botetourt County, Virginia. (See (8-86) Historical Development rural character. reconstruction faithfully replicated missing elements, using appropriate materials and traditional NPS Form 10-900-a Page 2 property,especially by school groups and persons with disabilities.Although the dairy's integrity NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio illustration.) This enormous entity, whose boundaries were defined following the French and Indian War, also included Kentucky and Michigan, and most of Indiana and Illinois. After the Revolutionary War the federal government felt an urgent need for "hardy pioneers" in the Ohio country to hold the West to the Mississippi boundary. The national government also felt compelled to sell land to help pay its expenses and reduce its debt, and it owed its Revolutionary soldiers for service. One by one, the states relinquished control of their Western lands to the United States Congress, which then sold the land.
In 1783 Virginia ceded its claims to the Ohio country, yielding to the United States Congress all rights to the land north of the Ohio River. One of the conditions of cession was the reserve of the land between the Little Miami and Scioto rivers in southwestern Ohio as payment for its Revolutionary War soldiers. The Virginia Military District (VMD) included in their entirety the present-day counties of Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Madison and Union, as well as portions of adjoining counties. (See Alma Aicholz Smith, The Virginia Military Surveys of Clermont and Hamilton Counties, Ohio, 1787-1849 [published by author, 1983], p. 7). (See map.) It included about four million, two hundred and four acres. (See Aileen M. Whitt, Clermont County, Ohio, Pioneers, 1798-1812: A Substitute Census for 1800-1810 [published by author, 1983], p.
7.) The VMD land bounties were reserved for soldiers in the Continental Army and the French and Indian War. The number of acres granted varied with the rank and years of service of the recipient. Each colonel serving to the end of the war, for example, was entitled to 5,000 acres; a allotments in the VMD included Generals George Washington and George Rogers Clark. Soldiers who held Virginia Military Land warrants were entitled to "good land," and if they were not satisfied with their tract could have all or part of their entry withdrawn, provided it had not been patented by the United States government. They could also locate wherever they chose patent, usually granted by the governor of Virginia, was the consummation of the title to the land. (8-86) Washington's land,amounting to3,051 acres,lay in Clermont County (ibid.).
soldier serving for the war,200 acres (ibid.,p.9).Prominent Virginia soldiers who received land Section 8 Page 3 2 A warrant was a document entitling the holder to a certain tract of land, attested to in a court of record; a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page 4 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio within the District. They could get land in any shape desired wherever the land had not been previously taken. These lands were allocated by "metes and bounds," also known as "indiscriminate a "small creek." Water beech trees were soon gone, and small creeks often changes their courses with spring run-offs. Due to this method of survey, much litigatation [arose] over the years concerning disputed boundaries. (Whitt, p.
6) Virginians petitioned the first territorial legislature to bring their slaves with them to the Military District, but this plea was "unanimously rejected" (Eugene H. Roseboom and Francis P Weisenburger, A History of Ohio, ed. James H. Rodabaugh. [The Ohio Historical Society, 1996], Not every soldier entitled to a bounty was able to take advantage of it; for many, especially those of lesser means, relocation was impractical. This resulted in a brisk market for land sales, as speculators purchased unused tracts cheaply and resold them at a profit. Speculators clamored to have their tracts surveyed, which attracted stalwart surveyors to the VMD as early as the mid- 1780s.
Survey work was halted temporarily by act of Congress in 1788, following disputes over the necessity of military lands in Ohio; it resumed in 1790 after treaties with native groups failed By the early 1790s (Some of the exact dates are in dispute.) the first surveys of the Clermont area, and of areas to the west, had been completed. (See Williams, p. 177). In 1787 surveyor John O'Bannon delineated a 1,400-acre tract in what is now Clermont County, near the present-day village of Neville: this effort represented the first survey in the county and in the VMD as a whole. (See Smith, p. 11.) (A Clermont township eventually would be named in O'Bannon's honor.) Another surveyor who came to the area before 1790 was famed explorer and land speculator Nathaniel Massie, who ventured into the southern Ohio wilderness in 1788.
By 1790, he was "one of the few men who had an accurate knowledge of the geography of the [Virginia Military District]" (William E. Smith, Ph.D., History of Southwestern Ohio: The Miami Valleys, to have been the largest landowner in the District; by 1810 he was also one of the largest (8-86) NPS Form 10-900-a surveys."Deeds often described boundariesin terms such as"from a water beech tree"to Vol.I.[Lewis Historical Publishing Company,1964],p.155).A"man ofmeans,"Massie is said NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page 5 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio landholders in the state. (See Lee Soltow, "Inequality Amidst Abundance: Land Ownership in Early Nineteenth Century Ohio," Ohio History, Vol. 88, No. 2, Spring 1979, p.
137.) Massie established fourteen towns, among them Chillicothe, the territorial (and, later, state) capital. His base of operations was the fortified station that became Manchester, the "gateway to the Virginia Military District" (Smith, History, p. 155) and its fourth settlement. One of the first forts in the Virginia lands, it was located on the Ohio River, in what is now Adams County (Williams, p. 142). There Massie schooled apprentices in the science of survey work, training them "for In addition to Revolutionary War soldiers, Euro-American settlers were attracted to the Little Miami River Valley. Since the land was controlled by the United States government and not yet for sale to the public, they were relegated to the status of squatters. But the land-hungry came (Smith, History, p. 143).
They resided there "in utter disregard of Indian rights, treaties or danger to themselves" (ibid.). Many relocated from Kentucky, where conflicting and confused land claims deterred settlers. After land was made available for sale, some purchased the tracts they lived on, while others moved on. Since Indian hostilities still posed a threat, the first settlements were fortified stations. Massie and his party, including Lytle, continued to survey the VMD through the early 1790s, attempting to define an outline of the District. Because of the Indian threat the surveyors split into three groups for protection.
The metes and bounds surveys that resulted from their efforts later were criticized for their irregular, sometimes haphazard appearance; this outcome was defended by some historians as influenced by the danger of the work, the necessity of self- defense, and the intense individuality of some settlers. (See Williams, pp. 178-179.) While the survey work proceeded, the first settlers ventured into the VMD, including the Clermont area. Following water routes, they traveled down the Ohio, then proceeded up rivers Miami (exact location unknown) they established Covalt's Station, which some Clermont County historians claim as the first inland settlement in Ohio; this claim, however, is in dispute. (See Lytle. (8-86) hazardous work in hostile country"(ibid., p.
155).Among his apprentices was the young William anyway."By 1785 squatters had built cabins up the streams from the Muskingum to the Miamis" and streams.The first settlement party reached Clermont in 1789.Near the mouth of the Little NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page 6 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio Williams, pp. 184-185). The group was led by Captain Abraham Covalt, a Revolutionary War soldier originally from New Jersey. By the mid-1790s, the presence of Native Americans in the area began to wane. The itinerant Shawnee tried to claim sections of the county as hunting grounds, but their "nominal claim" to the land proved unsuccessful. In 1794 General Anthony Wayne defeated the Shawnee at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in northwest Ohio.
The 1795 Treaty of Greenville, enacted following the battle, opened the lands of southern Ohio for secure Euro-American settlement. "The white man was free...to 'plant corn in Ohio, unvexed by Shawnee war'" (Williams, p. 189). After the treaty was signed, natives were forced to relocate to a reserve in the northwest corner of the state, from which they would again be uprooted three decades hence. In the years after the treaty and before 1803, when Ohio joined the Union, the state's population tripled. "Between 1795 and 1800, thirty thousand people came to Ohio, raising the population to "fertility of the soil, low-priced land, security of land titles, high price of labor, exclusion of slavery, and quieting of Indian claims to the country" (ibid.). Most of the stations were abandoned, and town-building began in earnest.
In 1800 Congress passed the Harrison Land Act, "intended to help men buy land more readily by establishing land offices nearer to buyers..." (ibid.). The act also provided for the sale of smaller, and therefore somewhat more affordable, tracts of land. In the same year the federal government opened a land office on Lytle's Harmony Hill farm, housed in a small building near his The process of locating and surveying land in the Virginia Military Di strict proceeded until warrants of the Revolutionary War soldiers not already satisfied" (Smith, p. 16), which it proceeded to do. Surplus land, totaling 76,735 acres, was given to the State of Ohio. The land was granted to the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Ohio State University) and sold for its support (ibid.). (8-86) residence.
Virginia relinquished all lands claims providing Congress would"assume the satisfaction of all 45,000" (Smith, History, p. 184). The inducements to come to the Miami country were many: 1851,when it was concluded by order of Congress.The following year the Commonwealth of NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page 7 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio Clermont County. During the 1780s and 1790s frontier pressures forced the passage of a series of federal land laws, including the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which provided for a system of territorial government that could eventually lead to statehood.
After the Revolution much of this region north of the Ohio River became part of the Northwest Territory, which was gradually divided into six "macro" counties. By 1790 much of the southern region of what would become Ohio, including the Clermont area, became part of Hamilton. The second county formed by the territorial government, Hamilton, extended from the Great Miami River in what is now southwestern Ohio, to the Scioto River in south central Ohio. Its seat of government was Cincinnati, a thriving Ohio River port founded in 1788. By the 1800s, the large territorial entities were gradually whittled down into smaller political jurisdictions. Clermont County was formed from Hamilton in 1800 by proclamation of Arthur St. Clair, Territorial Governor; it was the eleventh county in the Territory in order of formation, and the seventh in Ohio (Williams, pp. 267-268).
As established it included all of what is now (See illustration.) In the following year the new county was divided into five townships: Williamsburg, Ohio, Obannon (later changed to Miami), Pleasant (now part of Brown County) and Washington, but their exact boundaries were not defined. (See illustration.) Over the next few years, additional townships were created upon request of citizens. Williamsburg was 1817, when its eastern third became part of Brown County (ibid.). Clermont benefitted from its location on the Ohio River, "the only waterway to the West and therefore the most often used migration route" (Whitt, p. 7). During the early years of settlement settlers located along the Ohio, along the Little Miami, on the riverbanks or near what would become Williamsburg.
They came primarily from the mid-Atlantic states, especially Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey, as well as Kentucky and Virginia. In 1802 William Lytle's unofficial county census enumerated 530 white male inhabitants between the Little Miami and Eagle Creek, and about another 150 above the mouth of the East Fork up the Miami (Williams, pp. 267-268). Despite reductions in land area, Clermont saw a steady increase in population during its first three decades. By 1810, its official population was 9,965; by 1820, (8-86) designated the county seat in 1801 (Everts, pp. 61-64). Clermont's boundaries were reduced in Brown County to the east; this original configuration is labeled "Old Clermont"by historians. 1805, when part of itshortheast corner was incorporated into a new county called Highland, and NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page 8 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio 15,820; by 1830, 20,466. By 1840, it had reached 23,106 (Everts, p. 89). Williamsburg. The town that would become Williamsburg was established five years before the formation of Clermont County. In 1793 William Lytle and his brother, John Lytle, came to the Little Miami River Valley to do some surveying for Kentuckian John Breckinridge. After they finished the work they established a surveyor's camp on the banks of the Little Miami's East Fork to serve as a base for future operations. The location they chose was a place where a steep bluff, covered with beech trees, swept down to the river: it was an attractive site with an abundant spring, easily defensible against Indian attacks.
Near the camp was a level area high above the river, part of which recently had been ravaged by a tornado and thus had been partly "cleared" without human intervention. This tract, which came to be known as the Big Field, lay in a bend of the river, with tributary streams nearby. Here a man named James Kain and his two sons cleared 40 acres, planted a corn crop and built a cabin (no longer extant). Located on what is now Lot 43 on Front Street, it was the first settlement in the vicinity of what would become Lytle recognized the tract's potential as a town site, so, in 1796, with the assistance of his brother and several others, he platted a site on DeBenneville Survey No. 2810.
(See atlas.) (Virginia Military District surveys were assigned names and numbers, which persist to this day.) The 1,500-acre allotment was a patent from President John Adams to Daniel DeBenneville, a Revolutionary War surgeon, on June 18, 1798. DeBenneville assigned the entire survey to William Lytle in 1800. (See Smith, p. 143.) Survey work was interrupted by a November blizzard, then resumed the following spring. The village plat included 500 in-lots, each one measuring 33 by 66 yards. Also platted were 150 out-lots of four acres each, located on the west side of the village. A tract of about five-and-a-quarter acres, which would come to be known as Lytlestown after its founder, then renamed Williamsburgh.
(The "h" eventually was dropped.) Local records state that the first ten lots were given free to settlers who agreed to establish homes; this was a common practice in the Miami country, generally with a time limit for building cabins on the donated lots. (See Smith, p. 152). The first paid land sales took place in December 1796. Occupied homes induced artisans to settle and set up businesses in the town. The (8-86) Williamsburg. the"Public Square,"was reserved for county buildings. The new town initially was called NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio enterprising James Kain, who had built the first cabin, opened the first public house "for the entertainment of travelers" in 1799, and Thomas Morris, later a United States Senator, opened a tavern in 1801 (Smith, History, p. 153). A ford across the river was soon established, later replaced by a ferry. By 1815 the town had 50 residents (Smith, History, p. 187): a population of respectable size during this era. "With the exception of Cincinnati, not more than four towns in the Miami Country had as many as 100 houses in 1815" (ibid.). The river and its tributaries provided abundant water power for flour, corn and sawmills.
In 1797 Lytle established the first mill on the East Fork, at the foot of what is now Front Street: the first century, most of which processed the products of local farms and forests. They included a packing houses and tobacco processing centers. Early roads tied Williamsburg to surrounding towns and to nearby cities. The first public road in the county was built from Williamsburg to Newtown in 1797; for many years it remained the county's main east-west thoroughfare. Lytle recognized the value a post road would bring to his new settlement. So in 1797 he and his partner, General James Taylor of Virginia, blazed a privately financed road from Williamsburg to Chillicothe, which was planned to connect with Zane's Trace. Originally called the Chillicothe Post Road or Chillicothe Turnpike, it became a state road in 1834; it is now known as the De La Palma Road (Everts, p. 88).
(See topographic By the 1800s, permanent, substantial dwellings, some of brick and stone, began to be built in the town. Among these was the Samuel Davies House, where several Militia Courts of Inquiry were held. Simon Kenton, famed Ohio Valley frontiersman and Indian fighter, attended militia meetings there. In 1815 a brick house was built for John Lytle, William Lytle's brother, at Main and Broadway opposite the Public Square. (See Olde Williamsburgh, Inc./Harmony Hill Association, "Tour Map of Olde Williamsburgh, Ohio," 2000.) The house was demolished in the 1950s (Izella Cadwallader, personal communication). map.) (8-86) Numerous small industrial concerns also operated in the town during the first half of the 19th industry in the county. By the mid-19th century three other mills would locate along the river.
Page 9 foundry, chair factories, a tannery, wool carding and oil mills, a cut nail factory, a distillery, pork NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page 10 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio When Clermont County officially was created in December 1800, Williamsburg became the first county seat. In 1809 a courthouse, jail and county clerk's office were built by John Charles on the Public Square (Everts, p. 65). In 1801 Williamsburg Township, one of five original townships in the county, was formed; although it was centered on its namesake village, its exact boundaries, like those of other early townships, were never precisely delineated.
(See map.) Its land area was gradually diminished by the creation of Tate, Batavia and Jackson townships and by Brown County on the east. The county seat remained in Williamsburg until 1823, when it was moved briefly to New Richmond and finally to Batavia. Following the relocation of the seat of government, Lytle tried unsuccessfully to regain ownership of the Public Square lots; in 1849 the Ohio Supreme Court decreed that the land belonged to the village forever. Loss of the county seat meant a decline in prestige for the village, and may have resulted in an economic downturn. Whatever the reason, Williamsburg remained unincorporated until 1847. Its population was 286 in 1830, and 385 in 1840; by 1870, it had reached 773 (Everts; Smith, History, p. 188).
During the 1850s the Williamsburg courthouse, symbol of the village's early role, was demolished and replaced by a brick graded school building. Historian Byron Williams lamented school building on the same site, which still stands. William Lytle. Major General William Lytle, the "father of Clermont County," was the founder of Williamsburg and of several other towns in the county. He was a "founder of frontier settlements, proprietor of large tracts of land, General in the Ohio militia, patron of the arts, leading citizen of one of the most important towns on the river, and finally, Surveyor General of of General William Lytle (1770-1831)" [published by author, 1957], p. iv). Lytle was born in Philadelphia in 1770. His parents, William and Mary Steele Lytle, were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who migrated to the New World in the late 17" or early 18" century.
They settled first in Philadelphia, then migrated to Carlisle in Cumberland County: the first leg of their westward journey. Here the elder Lytle "[bjecame an Indian fighter by necessity and a captain by (8-86) the whole vast territory"(Virginius Cornick Hall, From Tomahawk to High Finance: The Life replace"(Williams,p.341).The school was destroyed by fire in 1922;it was replaced by a high the loss: "And thus a thoughtless posterity ruined a dignity they did not appreciate and could not NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio royal necessity in his twenty-second year" (Williams, p. 144), assigned to scouting the upper tributaries of the Ohio. He also served in the Revolutionary War.
In recognition of his services against the Indians, he received thousands of acres of bounty land in central Kentucky. In 1779 the Lytle family, which now included seven children, relocated to their Kentucky lands, traveling by flatboat down the Ohio River. The life of the young William Lytle reflects the adventurous, self-sufficient, dangerous and sometimes violent life of the frontier. His survival skills, including riding, hunting and shooting, were honed at an early age. He joined his first also accompanied his father, a surveyor, on expeditions far from home. During one of these trips he was stricken with the measles and managed the 70-mile return trip alone, killing a bear en route.
He volunteered for the Revolutionary War in 1780, at age sixteen, joining General George Rogers Clark's campaign against the Miamis of the Great Miami and Mad River valleys in Already famed as an Indian fighter, Lytle gained a reputation as a very ambitious young man, under Nathaniel Massie. Given Lytle's background, it is not surprising he chose to follow his with danger but filled with opportunity. Surveying in that period was a highly important and respected profession, and one in which one could readily (and legally) acquire large amounts of land for oneself. Owners of land warrants frequently arranged to have their lands located by promising the surveyor a certain portion of the land.
The danger involved in the location of claims in the wilderness often led owners of large tracts to pay their surveyors generously, frequently as much as a quarter of even a third part of the land surveyed. Thus a surveyor with a reputation or honesty and one who kept busy could amass within a short period of time considerable personal holdings. (Hall, p. 24) By 1793, at age 22, Lytle was deemed "qualified for independent action." He then took over the survey of the western side of the District, with assistants from Lexington, Kentucky. Lytle (8-86) southwestern Ohio. pursuit of Native Americans at age ten, while accompanying a pioneer band to Cincinnati. He father's occupation.During the early years of the Republic, surveying was an occupation fraught with a strong interest inland.When hereached adulthood,hemoved to Ohio to study surveying Section 8 _ Page 11 NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio founded a surveyor's camp on the banks of the East Fork of the Little Miami River, near what is now Williamsburg. He also became a land speculator. He formed a partnership with General James Taylor and made trips to the East to purchase warrants and patents of VMD land. In the same year he drew up a plan for the town that would eventually become Williamsburg, the county's first seat of government. Lytle donated five-and-a-half acres of land in the center of the village to be set aside for public buildings: a tract of land that became known as the Town "Lytle reserved for his own use 600 acres immediately adjoining the town" ("Historic develop the property, which he called Harmony Hill.
Between 1800 and 1801 a house, barns and a stone dairy house were built on the farm. Lytle opened the first post office in the county in his home and served as the first postmaster. In 1800, as noted earlier, the United States Government opened a land office at Harmony Hill. Here Lytle bought and sold thousands of acres of land in the Virginia Military District. Lytle's interests in land, development and promotion led naturally to involvement in politics. After the Clermont County government was organized in the early 1800s, he served as the Prothonotary or first clerk of the county courts. In 1800 he also was elected to the territorial General Assembly, where he filled a vacant seat. In 1804 he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel in the state militia; he was promoted four years later to Major General of the Seventh Division of Ohio Militia.
His duties as commander appear to have been largely of an administrative nature. In 1798 Lytle married Elizabeth Stahl of Philadelphia. The couple settled in Lexington, Kentucky, remaining there until their Williamsburg house was completed. They raised five children to adulthood. Following the death of Elizabeth Lytle in 1821, Lytle married Margaret Haines, a widow with five children from her first marriage. One of Lytle's children, Colonel 1835. Robert Lytle's son, General William Haines Lytle, was a "gifted poet-soldier"; he fell in the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863. (See Hall, p. 151; Everts, p. 191.) (8-86) Square. Robert T.Lytle,became a"distinguished orator"who served a termin Congress from 1833 to (See Hall, pp. 87-88). Williamsburgh, Ohio," p. 2). In 1800, when he obtained a clear title to the acreage, he began to NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page 13 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio In 1806 Lytle purchased eight-and-a-quarter acres of land on what was then the outskirts of where there had been only wilderness before,...and now he was anxious to turn his attention to other, more challenging, enterprises" (Hall, p. 90). In Cincinnati Lytle prospered and achieved prominence in civic life. By 1810 he was the second-largest landowner in the state of Ohio, controlling 39,998 acres. (See Smith, p. 26.) A facsimile of the Ohio tax duplicate for that year lists pages of entries under his name. (See Gerald M.
Petty, Ohio 1810 Tax Duplicate: Arranged in a State-wide Alphabetical List of Names of Taxpayers with an Index of Names of Original Entries [published by author, 1976].) Lytle became the first president of the University of Cincinnati, founded in 1819, and director of the first Cincinnati Humane Society. He donated land in Brown County to Roman Catholics, on which later was built a college operated by Ursuline nuns. He also patronized artists, musicians and scholars. Lytle served as a director of the Miami Trading Company, a businessman's group, successful: a canal venture near Louisville, Kentucky, ended in failure, and his interests were hit hard by the Panic of 1818-1821. During the War of 1812 Lytle served as Major General of Militia for the Southern Ohio District, retaining the title of "General" for the rest of his life.
In 1829 he was appointed Surveyor General for Ohio, Indiana and Michigan by his friend, President Andrew Jackson; a position he held for only two years. Lytle died on March 17, 1831, at age 61, and is buried in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery. Lytle Park, located in the locally designated historic district of the same name at the eastern edge of downtown Cincinnati, commemorates the site of his house. Harmony Hill. As noted earlier, William Lytle resided at Harmony Hill from c. 1801 until he relocated to Cincinnati in 1809. Lytle continued to own the farm until December 4, 1824, when he sold it to his brother John Lytle. John Lytle is indicated as the owner on the 1840 county atlas. He conveyed the farm to his son Joseph Warren Lytle at an unknown date; the deed has not been located and does not appear to have been recorded.
On March 18, 1895, Joseph Warren Lytle sold the land to Edward B. Cowguill. It remained in the Cowguill family for 74 years, passed (8-86) relocated there with his family.Lytle had established a thriving community at Williamsburg and as a stockholder in the first woolen mill in Cincinnati. Not all his enterprises were Cincinnati, a bustling Ohio River port. Three years later, seeking greater opportunities, he NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 _ Page 14 Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio Lytle house and land office were removed and the bungalow and garage erected From 1969 to 1998 the property passed through a series of investment owners. Over time the dairy house fell into serious disrepair and faced possible demolition.
(See Section 7.) As the 1998, the dairy house, bungalow, garage and approximately 1.19 acres of land were purchased by the Bicentennial of Olde Williamsburgh, Inc./Harmony Hill Association, a nonprofit historical society. Restoration of the dairy house was completed by the end of the year, and a museum devoted to local history was developed in the house. (8-86) down through three generations and gradually diminished in size. During their tenure the original villages bicentennial approached, interest grew in preserving the building. On February 11, NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio 9. Major bibliographic references Cadwallader, Izella, secretary, Olde Williamsburgh, Inc./Harmony Hill Association.
Interview by Margo Warminski, September 15, 2000. Clermont County, Ohio, deed records. Clermont County recorder's office, Batavia, Ohio. Everts, Louis H. History of Clermont County, Ohio.Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott and Company, Genessee Farmer and Gardener's Journal. Vol. V, No. 24, June 13, 1835. Ohio Historic Preservation Office, Columbus. Hall, Virginius Cornick. "From Tomahawk to High Finance, the Life of General William Lytle, 1770-1831." Typescript, 1957. Harmony Hill Association, Williamsburg, Ohio. Harmony Hill Association. "Historic Williamsburg, Ohio." Published privately, 1999. "Tour Map of Olde Williamsburgh, Ohio." 2000. Ohio Historical Society. "Survey of Historical Features: Miami River, Little Miami River, Mill Creek Basins: Southwestern Ohio." 1970. Ohio Historic Preservation Office, Columbus. Petty, Gerald M.
Ohio 1810 Tax Duplicate: Arranged in a State-wide Alphabetical List of Names of Taxpayers with an Index of Names of Original Entries. Published by author, 1976. Roseboom, Eugene H., and Francis P. Weisenburger. A History of Ohio, ed. James H. Rodabaugh. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio Historical Society, 1996. Smith, Alma Aicholz. The Virginia Military Surveys of Clermont and Hamilton Counties, Ohio, 1787-1849. Published by author, 1983. Smith, William E., Ph.D. History of Southwestern Ohio: The Miami Valleys, Vol. I. New York 1880. (8-86) Section 9 Page 1_ NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 9 - Page 2_ Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio and Palm Beach: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1964. Soltow, Lee.
"Inequality Amidst Abundance: Land Ownership in Early Nineteenth Century Ohio." Ohio History, Vol. 88, No. 2, Spring 1979. Whitt, Aileen M. Clermont County, Ohio, Pioneers, 1798-1812: A Substitute Census for 1800- 1810. Published by author, 1983. Williams, Byron. History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, From the Earliest Times Down to the Present. Vol. I: Historical. Reprint, Gateway Press, Baltimore, 1987. (8-86) NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 10 Page 1_ Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio 10. Geographical Data Verbal boundary description The Harmony Hill Dairy House is located within the corporate limits of Williamsburg, Ohio. It is South Third Street.
The boundary for the Dairy House is defined by the perimeter of the terrace, which measures 40 feet on each side. (Please refer to plat.) The nominated property includes the bulk of the parcel of land visually associated with the dairy associated with the building has been excluded from the nomination because it represents a later (8-86) located within a brick-paved terrace that lies approximately 50 feet north of the north line of Verbal boundary justification excluding areas of lesser integrity or different use.The remainder of the acreage currently house.It contains sufficient land to enclose the building and an adjacent stone well while period of development and does not contribute to the significance of the property. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 12 Page 1_ Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio 12. Additional documentation Location: Clermont County, Ohio (same for all photographs) Photographer: Margo Warminski Date taken: September 15, 2000 Location of negatives: Olde Williamsburgh, Inc./Harmony Hill Association (same for all View: General view of Harmony Hill museum property, showing dairy house, bungalow, garage and parking area; looking east from South Third Street. Photo 1 View: West and south elevations of dairy house, looking east. Photo 2 View: East and south elevations of dairy house, with well in foreground; looking northwest. Photo 3 View: North elevation of dairy house; looking south.
Photo 4 Date taken: October 6, 2000 View: Facade (south elevation) of dairy house, looking north. Photo 5 View: Interior of dairy house, showing stone walls and floor, and roof structure; looking north. Photo 6 photographs) (8-86) Photograph key Name of property:Harmony Hill Dairy House(same for all photographs) NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 12 Page 2_ Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio Date taken: September 15, 2000 Photo 7 View: Bungalow, south of dairy house; looking east. Photo 8 View: Facade and south elevation of Samuel W. Davies House, Williamsburg; looking Photo 9 northwest. (8-86) View: Stone well in front of dairy house; looking north.
AN A as shown here, the land later to become Clermont County, Ohio, was designated as Botetourt County, Virginia. Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio Williamsburg KENTUCKY including Ohio This map shows Virginia's claims north and east of the Mississippi River after ILLINOIS WISCONSIN the Alleghenies as of 1763, Virginia's claims to lands west of (1848) AUGUSTA CAROLINA BOTETOUA EAST AND NORTH OF THE 41 DEGREE NORTH LAT GREENVILLE TREATY LINE MILITARY DISTRICT THE MIAMI Harmony Hill Dairy House MAJOR LAND SURVEYS OF OHIO including Virginia Military District Clermont County, Ohio LINE BETWEEN LAND BASE RANGES MERIDIAN VIRGINIA FIRST GEOGRAPHERS FIRE OHIO 1ST PRINCIPAL SURVEY PURCHASE OHIO RIVER COMPANY'S WESTERN RESERVE FIRST SEVEN Williamsburg MICHIGAN SURVEY LAKE ERIE Aug. 3.
1795 1ST Source:Land Office of the Auditor of State of Ohio The Virginia Military Surveys of Clermont and Hamilton Counties, Ohio, 1787-1849 DISTRICT ZCHA Present County Seals....e Scale of Miles Map by C. E. Sherman, Original Ohio Land Subdivisions, Geological Survey, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Columbus, Ohio, 1972. Used with permission. Harmony Hill Dairy House Map of Virginia Military District, Clermont County, Ohio Williamsburg showing counties included County Lines thus VIRGINIA District Line thus i Civil Township Lines thus -****C <a Vol. III, 1925, Plate 2. Reprinted by the Division of CONGRE MARION MILITARY WARREN COUNTY (formed 1803) CLINTON COUNTY (formed 1810) - This part O Bannon Township Clermont County, Ohio Pleasant Township 1800 - 1805 boundaries of Clermont County, Ohio, and ships. Map by Alma A. Smith.
Not drawn to Ohio, 1787-1849 by Alma Aicholtz Smith, 1985, p. 54. Harmony Hill Dairy House of original five townships 1818 COUNTY BROWN HAMILTON became HIGHLAND Creek Anderson Williamsburgh This map shows the original and present Original configuration of Clermont *From the book The Virginia Military Surveys of Clermont and Hamilton Counties, County, showing general locations Washington Township the general location of its first five town- Williamsburgh Township RIVER Nine Mile O'Bannon Bullskin Harmony Hill Dairy House 1875 map of Williamsburg Clermont County, Ohio Township P.Casey WILLIAMSBURGH V3329 3.1249 J.Johnson Harvey Chunbery Nº 2810 2000 0c 100 MSytle2 Harmony Hill Dairy House Undated postcard view of dairy house and undated view of Clermont County, Ohio Williamsburg Harmony Hill Farm ourg.
for General William Lytle, probably the eldest stone building still standing Ohio Clermont County, Ohio Harmony Hill Dairy House Williamsburg View of land office at Harmony Hill, taken in early 20th century Harmony Hill Dairy House Williamsburg Clermont County, Ohio well Undated view of dairy house and Harmony Hill Dairy House 1970 view of south and west elevations of dairy house June 27, 1970) Clermont County, Ohio (Cincinnati Post and Times-Star, Williamsburg 8-The Post & Times.Star Cincinnati, Sat., June 27, 1970 1997 views of south and east elevations of dairy house Williamsburg Clermont County, Ohio Harmony Hill Dairy House dairy house (Cincinnati Enquirer, Williamsburg Clermont County, Ohio 1998 view of south elevation of February 14, 1998) Harmony Hill Dairy House Clermont County, Ohio N30 E FOUNDATION, ING.
WILLIAMSBURE - CLERMONT Plat of museum property, including Williamsburg 20.00 1.1951 29.50 dairy house Harmony Hill Dairy House PLAT FOR P.
440 1"= 100' MAy 19, 1978 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET NAME : DATE OF 45TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: N PDIL: N PERIOD: COMMENT WAIVER: N V ACCEPT ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS : DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N TELEPHONE RETURN DATE 5/30/01 MULTIPLE 4/26/01 6/11/01 DISCIPLINE REJECT REVIEWER OTHER: RECOM./CRITERIA DATE RECEIVED: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: REASONS FOR REVIEW: Bnterod in the DATE OF 16TH DAY: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DATE OF PENDING LIST: PROPERTY Harmony Hill Dairy House Photo Photo 5 Hanmony Hill bainy House Puoto 7 WILLIAMSBURG QUADRANGLE 7.5 MINUTE SERIES (TOPOGRAPHIC) GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WILLIAMSBURG, OHIO Harmony Hill UNITED STATES ROAD CLASSIFICATION DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR House STQNELICE 4326190 REG'D BY OHPO DEC 0 82000 72nd House District Brown, Clinton and Chair - Agriculture & Natural Finance & Appropriations Office: (614) 644-6034 Agriculture & Development Home: (513) 553-4636 Toll Free: 1-800-282-0253 Health, Retirement & Aging Technology & Elections December 6, 2000 Mr.
Steve Gordon Ohio Historical Preservation Office 567 East Hudson Street Columbus, OH 432,11 I would like to give my strong recommendation for the Harmony Hill Dairy House in The Harmony Hill Dairy House built in 1800 is the oldest structure in Clermont County and sits on a very historic site. It was part of the homestead of Major General William Lytle considered to be "The Father of Clermont County." He not only founded the village of Williamsburg, but The Harmony Hill Association did a wonderful restoration of this structure in 1998 and it existence and I feel the Harmony Hill Dairy House is certainly deserving of your Thank you for your consideration of my views, and I hope that you will approve the Harmony Hill Dairy House to the National Register of Historic Sites. 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43266-0603 recommendation.
COMMITTEES: Resources Subcommittee Sincerely, Historic Sites. Rose Vesper State Representative appears as it did in 180o. Clermont County has few historic structures of this early era still in Retirement Subcommittee Clermont (Part) Counties Printed on recycled paper Williamsburg, Ohio to be approved by your committee for acceptance to the National Register of also played a very major part in the early history of Clermont County and the surrounding area. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO Robert L. Proud January 31, 2001 Mr. Steve Gordon Ohio Historical Preservation Office 567 East Hudson Street Columbus, OH 43211 Dear Mr. Gordon: The Board of Clermont County Commissioners strongly recommends that the Harmony Hill Dairy House in Williamsburg, Ohio be approved by your committee for acceptance to the National Register of Historic Sites.
Harmony Hill Dairy House is one of the few surviving resources associated with the first permanent settlements in the region during the 1790's and 1800's, playing an important role in the life of the community as the home of a federal land office and the county's first post office. Its period of significance begins with the estimated construction date in 1800 and is credited with being the oldest surviving building in Clermont County. The dairy house is also the only surviving building associated with Harmony Hill, the home of General Lytle, the founder of Williamsburg, also hailed as the "father of Clermont County" The Harmony Hill Association has restored the dairy house and it appears as it did in 1800.
The 1998 restoration faithfully buildings recorded on Ohio Historic Inventory forms predate 1820 and, of those recorded, none is comparable to the Harmony Hill Dairy House in form, materials, or use. For two years, the Harmony Hill Association has worked to achieve this designation. We strongly agree with and support the Association's efforts and we trust that you will approve the Harmony Hill Dairy House for acceptance to the National Register of Historic Sites. Thank you for your consideration. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Mary C. Walker Respectfully yours, Martha Dorsey replicated missing elements, using appropriate materials and retaining integrity of design and workmanship. Relatively few TELEPHONE: (513) 732-7230 ROBERT L. PROUD MARY C.
WALKER MARTHA DORSEY 72d District New Richmond, OH 45157-9602 Chairman, Natural Resources, Parks Home: (513) 553-6569 Columbus, OH 43266-0603 Office: (614) 644-6034 Fax: (614) 644-9494 February 27, 2001 Amos Loveday Ohio Historic Preservation Advisory Board c/o Ohio Historic Preservation Office 567 East Hudson St. Columbus, OH 43211-1030 Harmony Hill Dairy House 299 South Third Williamsburg, OH I would like to add my support to your consideration to include the Harmony Hill Dairy House to the National Register of Historic Places. Clermont County is undergoing rapid growth as more residents move out to our rural areas from Cincinnati. Olde Williamsburgh, Inc. and the Harmony Hill Association have been working tirelessly for years to preserve the rich history of our county.
Your favorable consideration of this nomination to the National Register of Historic Places will add significant support to their efforts. 72nd House District 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43266-0603 Committees: Statehouse: Sincerely, State Representative Energy and Environment Tom Niehaus Agriculture & Natural Resources Ways and Means 77 South High Street Dear Amos: 1131 Little Indian Creek Rd. and Recreation Subcommittee Public Utilities MAR 0 5 2001 REC'D BY OHPO
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