Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
“The Dewitt Log Homestead is a historic building near Oxford, Ohio, listed in the National Register on April 13, 1973.”
Wikipedia article Dewitt Log Homestead, CC BY-SA 4.0.
one of 63 National Register listings in Butler County · listed in 1973 · category: Building · one of 3 National Historic Landmarks in Butler County.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
The chapter on Oxford Township in A History and Biographical Cyclopædia of Butler County, Ohio : with Illustrations and Sketches of Its Representative Men and Pioneers, published 1882 names Oxford. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
August 5, 1811, at a session of the same commissioners, on petition of inhabitants of Milford Township, it was 'ordered, that so much of the township of Milford as lies within the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the northwest corner of the county of Butler; thence south with the western boundary line of the said county of Butler to the southwest corner of township numbered five in the first range east of the meridian line drawn from the mouth of the Great Miami River; thence east with the southern boundary line of the same township to the southeast corner thereof; thence north with the eastern boundary line thereof to the north boundary line of the said county of Butler; thence west with the same to the place of beginning, - shall compose a township which shall be called and known by the name of Oxford Township." Election to be held at the house of Sylvester Lyons on the 24th day of August, 1811, for the election of township officers.
Passage source: A History and Biographical Cyclopædia of Butler County, Ohio : with Illustrations and Sketches of Its Representative Men and Pioneers, published 1882.
Oxford Township presents a variety of soils and surfaces: The land is generally elevated and well. adapted to grazing, the growing of wheat, and produce of all kinds. Farms are small, and the agricultural population large for the territory embraced. With the exception of two or more sections, the land belongs to the Miami University, the trustees of that institution leasing the land for ninety-nine years, renewable forever, subject to the annual payment of a quit-rent of six per cent on the purchase money.
Passage source: A History and Biographical Cyclopædia of Butler County, Ohio : with Illustrations and Sketches of Its Representative Men and Pioneers, published 1882.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Oxford Township - 53,483 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,917 specimens collected within 10 miles of Dewitt, Zachariah Price, Cabin between 1879 and 1975: 855 Animalia, 775 Fungi, 213 Plantae, 60 Protozoa, 13 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A. V. J.; W. G. S., A.L.; Bucholtz, I. and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.
| Image | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Taphrina communis (Sadeb.) Giesenh. | 1888 | J. L. James | |
 | unnamed | 1893 | B. Fink | Oxford. |
 | Hordeum sativum Pers. | 1895 | Kellerman, W.A. | Oxford, Butler Co. Ohio. |
 | Spiza americana (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) | 1879 | Porter, J.B. | |
 | Tringa solitaria A.Wilson, 1813 | 1879 | Porter collection, J.B. | |
 | Charadrius semipalmatus Bonaparte, 1825 | 1880 | not recorded | |
 | Chlidonias niger (Linnaeus, 1758) | 1880 | Porter collection, J.B. | |
 | Tringa melanoleuca (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) | 1880 | Porter collection, J.B. | |
 | Gavia immer (Brunnich, 1764) | 1881 | Porter, J.B. | |
 | Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) | 1881 | Porter collection, J.B. | |
 | Taphrina pruni (Fuckel) Tul. | 1888 | J. L. James | Oxford. |
 | Xylaria polymorpha (Pers.) Grev. | 1888 | James J. F. | Oxford |
All 1,917 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Dewitt, Zachariah Price, Cabin: 1 plant. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dingledine Pit & Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Plant |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oxford, the town this property stands in, in 42 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 25 thunderstorm wind, 15 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $40,000 | A barn was destroyed and several trees were downed. |
| January 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $10,000 | One half mile of power poles were knocked down along State Route 732. Three trees up to 12 in diameter were snapped along Reily-Millville Road. A greenhouse was blown over on US Route 27 in Hanover Township. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $10,000 | Large tree branches were broken off, landing on several houses and cars. Several trees were downed. |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $10,000 | Trees downed. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $8,000 | Numerous trees were downed in the Oxford area. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $5,000 | Several trees were downed across northwest Butler County. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $5,000 | Numerous trees were knocked down in Oxford Township. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $5,000 | Numerous trees and power poles were downed along College Corner Pike. |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $5,000 | Numerous trees were downed. |
| April 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $5,000 | Trees and power lines down. |
| June 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $5,000 | Trees were downed. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $3,000 | Several trees were reported knocked down. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $3,000 | Three to four foot diameter trees were knocked down. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $3,000 | A few trees were downed. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $3,000 | Two trees were downed near the intersections of Hamilton-Eaton and Somersville Roads. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $3,000 | Several trees and power lines were knocked down. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $2,000 | A large tree and numerous large branches were knocked down. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $2,000 | Several 12 inch diameter trees were downed. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $2,000 | Large tree limbs were knocked down. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $2,000 | Large tree limbs were downed throughout the University of Miami campus. |
| November 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $1,000 | A large tree was downed on South College Avenue due to thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Oxford | $1,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Oxford | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | $100 | A 6 inch diameter tree limb was downed. |
| May 2024 | Flood | Oxford | - | High water was reported on Main Street. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Oxford | - | The hail was accompanied by winds estimated to be 50 mph. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | - | Several trees were downed, blocking roads in town. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | - | Measured gust to 60 mph. |
| July 1998 | Flash Flood | Oxford | - | Heavy rainfall caused several roads to flood including State Route 732. |
| June 1995 | Hail | Oxford | - | Numerous trees were downed. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| August 2015 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| August 2012 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| March 2012 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| April 1995 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
| April 1995 | Hail | Oxford | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
When this property was proposed for the National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is, and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain. It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s typewriter's.
and stones. The front door, which had a four-paned rectangular window Fair The second six-and-one-half feet and has an eight-foot hearthstone. presence of a walnut chair rail encircling the room.The interior high walls. There is a stone chimney in the middle of the east wall wall under the ladder stairs is-daubed.The east fireplace opens to and a detached smokehouse to the northeast of the cabin were all added. are two rooms down and two up.
owned and operated the sawmill, a vital part of early American life. He Estate. Commerce Architecture Aboriginal Communications losophy Landscape Religion/Phi Science Agriculture Education Sculpture Invention Industry use is as a museum and supplementary museum association office. The Oxford Museum Association has taken a great interest in the cabin. Engineering spersed with woodland on the gently rolling landscape.
The DeWitt cabin is the oldest log cabin still standing in Oxford residence until the mid-twentieth century when it was used as a barn for Zachariah Price DeWitt was one of the first settlers in Oxford, and Social/Human cabin standsis part of the two- and-one-half sections of land in the After the DeWitts ceased residence in their cabin, it continued as a township settled before Miami University was founded and not deeded to a leading member of the early Baptist Church, and was secretary to the a nearby (now absent) house.The land surrounding the cabin has been Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Oxford (chartered in 1823) for many occupancy of the cabin is to allow the Bachelor Estate'sproposed Beta Theta Pi and Phi Delta Theta fraternity headquarters in the 1830's.
came to the aid of his country in the War of 18l2 when he commanded a Political PERIOD One or More as Appropriate) seer of the Poor in 1811 and 1813,and Supervisor of Roads in 1813.He company of riflemen from Butler County which went to Detroit to assist used almost continuously for agricultural purposes, but this is inter- Pioneer Museum. This project is now on its feet, and the Association has Transportation Music itarian Art high quality of construction and detail.The land upon which the outdoor education program to use it as its headquarters.
The whole case file for this property - 1,949 words, 13 pages, reproduced complete.
Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 73001392, 13 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Langstroth Cottage | 0.7 miles | 1976 |
 | Hunting Lodge Farm | 0.7 miles | 1982 |
 | Herron Gymnasium | 0.8 miles | 1979 |
 | Elliott and Stoddard Halls, Miami University | 0.9 miles | 1973 |
 | Sigma Aplpha Epsilon Chapter House of Miami University | 0.9 miles | 2005 |
 | McGuffey, William H., House | 1.0 miles | 1966 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 73001392 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Butler County | All 63 listed properties in this county. |
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