Nomination for Benninghofen House

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Congressional District: 8 Walter E.

Powell Form 10-300 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR - State (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE - County NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) MAY AND/ OR HISTORIC: - In Process - Preservation work - Comments - Other (Specify) OWNER'S NAME: LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: TITLE OF SURVEY: DATE OF SURVEY: - Federal DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: 039 Military NAME Religious ACCESSIBLE Commercial Site Both CLASSIFICATION Transportation Educational Government District Entertainment 017 CATEGORY DATE CODE OWNERSHIP Private Restricted Park Yes: Agricultural Benninghofen House Structure Public Building Unoccupied STATUS Scientific Industrial Courthouse Square on High Street Being Considered Hamilton Private Residence COMMON: Butler County Historical Society ENTRY NUMBER Butler County Courthouse Public Acquisition: 327 North Second Street TO THE PUBLIC BUTLER STREET AND NUMBER: OWNER OF PROPERTY Object REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS (Check One) CITY OR TOWN: Ohio Dhio N4364Z20 PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate) LOCATION Museum REGISTER - Deteriorated - Unexposed X) Original Site THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE the first floor, the kitchen, is adjoined by a stairway to the base- CONDITION MAR9 Excellent DESCRIBE REGISTER NATIONAL Unaltered archway between the sitting room and the passageway is embellished This association of various types of window enframement is also windows of the second story are of conventional arched design.The the library and sitting room have an Adamesque style rococo plaster Fair simple style.This addition was later enclosed by the Historical balustrade are characteristic of the High Victorian Italianate.A built-in bookshelves and the fireplace of the sitting room is inlaid from the walls and are supported by large scale brackets.It ringed by a cast iron balustrade.The small scale designs of this the main entrance leading to a recessed doorway with encircling tation of the wisteria vines which previously engulfed the front of a number of stilted segmental arches or straight-sided arches Society to serve as a gene alogical research room.

with a conservative amount of small scale ornamentation on the all four of these rooms are the most distinguished characteristics majority of the remaining windows have simple flat sills and lintels. is a Victorian variation of a rococo ceiling with flower and cupid which had been used as an elevator for the convenience of the last with glazed colored tile.A door with the original leaded glass the right by two smaller rooms, the library and the sitting room, the ceiling was painted with similar motifs as in the parlor.The vine encircling the walls. finish except for a front room which has been painted with a wisteria number of the windows of the front facade are grouped in twos. appears that the back porch was added at a later date and was ofa tral entrance hall is flanked on the left by a large parlor and to (Check One) Good - Ruins - Moved a smooth appearance.

The The porch consists The library contains tration are the principal stylistic indicators. sidelights. The main door itself enframes a stained glass represen- steps and railing.Directly above the entrance is a small balcony all of which are entered by ten foot high doorways.The ceilings of motif.The Italian marble fireplace is surrounded by the original pillars and frieze.To the left of the porch is the massive arch of typical of this style.The eaves project a considerable distance Interior:The first floor consists of eight rooms.The wide cen- with an open foliated wood screen at the top.The rearmost room of occupant but which now serves as the office for the museum curator. leads to the enclosed back porch.Adjacent to this is a small room decoration with a geometric pattern motif.

are displayed.The main stairway to the second floor is at the rear The Benninghofen House is an example of High Victorian paint on the plain walls and a parquet wooden floor.The ceilings of of the central hall.The second story consists of bedrooms of simple The design of the front porch and the fenes- Those on the lower floor are fairly elaborately trabeated while the SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) - Pre-Columbian! L 18th Century SPECIFIC DATE(S) (If Applicable and Known) X Political - Transportation STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Statement of significance

The house was built in the early 1860's by Noah C. McFarland, a ton, D.C. from 1881 to 1885. In May of 1868 McFarland sold the property to Alfred A. Phillips, the Mexican War as a corporal in Company I, First Ohio Regiment. hofen, a Prussian immigrant to Hamilton who was to become one of southern Ohio with products of blankets, skirts, flannel and Jac- Hamilton area, however, the felts produced by the firm helped to lay the .foundation for the large modern paper industry in the city.

Conservation Commerce Engineering Communications Architecture losophy Theater Education Military Aboriginal Prehistoric Literature Science Landscape Religion/Phi itarian Music Industry Agriculture Social/Human- Sculpture Infantry.His primary service to the community were.his terms as- and served as Commissioner of the General Land offices in Washing- quard fabrics being sent throughout the United States and exported Invention felt from special machinery of unusually large dimensions for a and resolutions delivered throughout the city.From 1866 to 1868 department of the mill to another.Thus Benninghofen and Shuler Civil War started was a major participant in the Unionist speeches deputy sheriff and sheriff of Butler County.He later became pro- use ofgalvanized pipes through which raw wool was blown from one were able to build up one of the most important industries in such as the Hamilton and Rossville Female Academy, and when the prietor of the Phillips House, a hotel near the county courthouse.

duced blankets, yarns, and other cloths but in 1864 the plant began have been hired to decorate the ceilings of the front four rooms of the house. During the Civil War he became a major of the 93rd Ohio Volunteer On April the home became the property of John W.Benning- Early 1860's Art the leading manufacturers of southern Ohio.Along with Asa Shuler A signifi- McFarland represented Butler and Warren Counties in the Ohio Senate have been internal.A German artist was active in this area at Phillips made some improvements to the home in 1870 which appear to to manufacture felts for use on paper making machinery. cant improvement was made in 1866 with the production of an endless known to many of his associates as "Major".Phillips had served in

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Bartlow, B.S.,et.al. (editors), Centennial History of Butler County, Government Printing Office, 1884-1887).

GEOGRAPHICAL DATA DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY OF LESS THAN TEN ACRES LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNT STREET AND NUMBER: CITY OR TOWN: As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na- tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion National Register in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set level of significance of this nomination is: GP 0 901.087 ORGANIZATION 2/26/73 LATITUDE LONGITUDE DATE Name Seconds Cincinnati ATTEST: COUNTY National CORNER STATE Title 039 Degrees Minutes Seconds NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES I hereby certify that this property is included in the FORM PREPARED BY NAME AND TITLE: Ohio Arts Council 12.

STATE LIAISON OFFICER CERTIFICATION Butler County Records, Butler County Courthouse, Hamilton, Ohio. CODE 15 . 73 Ohio (n.p.: B.F. Bowen and Co., 1905). Vols. I-III (Washington, D.C.: - Gale Braoks, Environmental Preservationist 414 Walnut Street Chief, Office of Archeology and Hist Degrees Minutes Local The Mercantile Library Building, Ohio Form 10-300a UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY (Number all entries) Historical Society Inco, 1925)- Cincinnati: Western Biographical Publishing Company, 1882) MAR 9 GP O 921-724 MAY171973 1973 BUTLER COUNTY STATE DATE REGISTER NATIONAL Benninghofen House (Continuation Sheet) ENTRY NUMBER scaping of the neighborhood complement the former Benninghofen home.

the society in this neighborhood just north of Hamilton's central business district has helped to stabilize the area, and it seems to nificance in the area, and the general character, scale, and land- The home remained in the possession of the descendants of John W. 8. SIGNIFICANCE (continued) Williams Qhip State Directory (Cincinnati: Williams and Company, 1868, 1876). (July 1969) 9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES (continued) Galbreath, Charles B-, History of Ohio, Vol.

IV (Chicago: American Historical Society for preservation as a museum.The building and site also serve as headquarters for the society.The presence of Benninghofen until 1949 when it was willed to the Butler County have encouraged a good number of property owners to maintain or The History and Bioqraphical Cyclopaedia of Butler OHIO R TECH REVIEW Photos 2 KEEPER - Send-back Entered Maps HISTORIAN ARCHEOLOGIST Re-submit BRANCH CHIEF National Register write-up WORKING NUMBER ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN CONTROL REVIEW 3.9.73.2525 REVIEW UNIT CHIEF Federal Register entry Butler 4-18- MAY1 7 1973 STATE QL Accept- Amp Loc- . Title: PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER NPS Number view of entrance from the east Benninghofen H use Title: Loc.

PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER Butler, Ohio May 17, 1973 NPS Number HAMILTON, OHIO GEOLOGICAL SURVEY HAMILTON QUADRANGLE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR the ohio historical society/ohio historical center/columbus, ohio 432ll/telephone (614) 469-4663 March 7, 1973 Dr. William J. Murtagh, Keeper 18th and C Streets, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240 Daniel R. Porter Encl: Completed applications for, Hull, Jaspar G., House, Hancock County Sincerely, Director DRP/mu REGISTER Department of Interior been approved by the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory National Park Service Board.Owmers have been notified of our intent to register.

Presbyterian Manse, Ross County National Register of Historic Places High Banks Works, Ross County Dear Bill: The Benninghofen House, Butler County Iam transmitting herewith seven completed National Register "House of Four Pillars," Lucas County Interstate 7l and I7th Avenue of Historic Places application forms. These applications have MAR 9 Spruce Run Earthworks, Delaware County NATIONAL Inscription Rock,Erie County MAY 1 7 1973 Hon, Donald D. Clancy PHR NRowland: pcl 5/21/73 Director, Northeast Region Location STATE Name Benninghofen House Ross County Also Notified Frankfort ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER Director, Frankfort Works Mound Butler County State Historic Preservation Officer Greenhills Date Entered Hamilton County The Ohio Historical Society Marquardt (George) Bouse Hr. Daniel R, Porter Hon. Wil1ian H. Harsha Hon. Walter E. Powell OHIO