Waernicke-Hille House And Store

in common bond, and resting on a tooled sandstone foundation. The exterior unusual: feature were it not for the overall massive character of the structure original windows are intact and are 6/6 trimmed with extended sills and flush- set lintels decorated with distinctive tooling similar to that on the foundation stones. Along the rear of the house, in the langle of the ell, is a 2-story open porch of wood frame construction which extends away from the house 10 feet and is covered by the slope of the slate gable roof of the house itself. There is a molded cornice with partial returns on the main portion of the house as well as on the ell.

The interior of the Waernicke-Hille House is arranged on a 4/4 plan which first story hall, a rather restrained straight open-string stair extends to the upper story. All original woodwork with molded trim, some with corner blocks, is intact, naturally finished neo-Classical wood mantlepieces. Some rooms feature built-in cupboards and closets flanking the fireplaces. The Hille Store is located approximately 150 feet east of the house, fronting gable-end orientation to the road. It rests on a foundation of sandstone, some of which is laid simply in pillar form.

A 1-story shed-roof open porch extends 6 feet toward the road and shields the entire facade, including the storeroom on the store are 6/6, as on the house, but are trimmed with external louvered On the front of the store, George Weisend, a local carpenter, painted advertising signs which, though faded, still recall the days when the store sold Township. During the heyday of the Waernicke-Hille tobacco business, various road. Today, however, only 3 remain, located north of the house: a coop, 30' just south of the house. shutters.

The Waernicke-Hille House and Store/Post Office are nominated for their association with two prominent tobacco-producing families in Washington County, Ohio. The house also derives architectural significance from its being the first brick house built in Independence Townshipi, and without a doubt the finest dwelling in the area. It was built for Ernst Waernicke (1831-1872), a native of Germany who came to washington County from Baltimore.

The Archer's Fork community can be dated from 1818, but its growth was directly attributable to the arrival of Waernicke and Schrader purchased more than 800 acres in the township and raised their crop tation south to Rea's Run Landing (now Wade) on the Ohio River a few miles south of tobacco was of such fine quality that it was specifically ordered by European royalty and by domestic figures such as the Rothchilds. Waernicke's fortunes increased and in 1864 he erected his majestic brick home which appears on the 1865 tax records with a value of $2000.

Its prominence in the township is demonstrated by the fact that four years before, only 25 structures were listed in tax records, with a total value Waernicke and Schrader had been in partnership with another Baltimore German, Augustus Fork where he entered the tobacco business with Waernicke and Schrader. When Ernst Waernicke died in 1872, Hille and Schrader continued the business until 1883, was established in Archer's Fork, Gus Hille was named its first postmaster. Shortly carried out by his daughter Ida Elizabeth Hille (1879-1962), who lived in the old an occurrance unique in Washington County, and perhaps in the entire state.