808 Dayton Street (House), Cincinnati

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS OHIO,31-CINT,47-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

808 Dayton Street, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio Within the Dayton Street Historic District, USGS Covington Quadrangle, Universal Transverse Mercator Coordinates: and Edward and Virginia Brundage Edward and Virginia Brundage Private dwelling and rented rooms. This is a moderately large town house in the vernacular idiom that illustrates the change in Cincinnati from the architectural style of the late classical revival to Italianate Victorian design. It is one of several such houses (especially on the south side of Dayton Street)' in what is now designated the Dayton Street Historic Interest Area. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A.

Physical History: Original and subsequent owners: The house stands on a parcel of land originally sold on October 13, to Jonathan Dayton of Elizabeth- town, New Jersey, for by John Cleves Symmes, who obtained the original patent for the Miami Purchase from the United States Con- gress. William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States, on October 1, as an executor of the estate of Symmes, and as the then Governor of the Indiana Territory, re-negotiated the sale, inasmuch as the original deed was said to have been lost. In Salmon P. Chase, a prominent Cincinnati lawyer, and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, purchased several lots of land on Dayton Street, which included the land upon which the house sits.

Because of the fire and riots of the records contained in the Hamilton County Court House were either partially or totally destroyed, thus making the present re- cords an incomplete source of information. It is known from the remain- ing records that Elijah Meering owned the property from March 28, to December 28, during which time it is presumed that he built the house. There are no known records of a house existing on the land pre- vious to that earlier date. Between and the present there have been numerous owners, none of whom have any claim to local or national promi- nence . HOUSE AT 808 DAYTON STREET HABS No. 0H-2200-A (Page 2) 2.

Date of erection: According to the sale prices as recorded in the Hamilton County Court House Deed Books, Elijah Meering purchased the land on March 28, for and sold it on December 28, for Thus, it is reasonable to deduce that the house was erected between March and December of The simplicity of the front would tend to support that date. 3. Architect: Unknown. 4. Alterstions and additions: Apparently none of appreciable significance. B. Historical Events and Persons Connected with the House: None known. There is no known biography of Elijah Meering. C. Sources of Information 1. Old views: None known. 2.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS OHIO,31-CINT,47-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Purchase by Elijah Meering: Deed Book Page Sale by Elijah Meering: Deed Book Page Prepared by: Carl A. Saladino Project Historian National Park Service August, PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement: 1. Architectural character: This is a typical three-bay, side-hall town house of the third quarter of the nineteenth century in the Cincinnati Basin area. 2. Condition of fabric: Good. B. Description of Exterior: 1. Over-all dimensions: The house is wide (three bays) and has two rectangular blocks totaling in length. It is two-and-a-haIf stories in front and two stories on the rear wing. 2. Foundations: Brick and stone. 3. Wall construction, finish and color: Gray-painted common brick. 4. Structural system, framing: Masonry bearing walls. HOUSE AT 808 DAYTON STREET HABS No.

OH-2200-A (Page 3) 5. Porches and stoops: Gray-painted stone entrance steps with low stone parapets. 6. Chimneys: There are four chimneys. Two are in the east (side) wall of the front unit, and two are in the exterior walls of the rear wing, 7. Openings: a. Doorways and doors: Recessed front entrance doorway with stone rounded arch and pilaster surrounds painted white. b. Windows: Double-hung windows with one-over-one-light sash in front and two-over-two and six-over-six-light sash elsewhere. Front win- .z dows have white-painted stone jambs, sills and rounded arch heads. 8. Roof: a. Shape, covering: Tarred roll-roofing on side-gable roof of front wing and flat roof on rear wing. b. Cornice, eaves: Deep, bracketed cornice with dentils and three low attic windows in frieze on front. C.

Description of Interior: 1. Floor plans: a. Basement: A series of storage rooms and a furnace room with converted coal bin. b. First floor: Two rooms on east side of hall. Large room in middle of house between front two rooms and kitchen at rear. c. Second floor plan: Four bedrooms and a bath along side hall. d. Attic: Two rooms above front wing only. 2. Stairways: Single-run front stair with turned wooden balusters and hand-rail. 3. Flooring: hardwood flooring most now covered by linoleum and carpeting. 4. Wall and ceiling finish: Painted plaster. 5. Doorways and doors: four-panel wooden doors and frames. Double- sliding doors between two front rooms on first floor. Doors have raised moldings. 6. Trim: Continuous moldings of plaster at perimeter of first floor ceilings.

Molded plaster arch with plaster pilasters in front hall at point where steps to second floor begin. Marble fireplace mantels and surrounds in first floor rooms of front wing. HOUSE AT 808 DAYTON STREET HABS No. OH-2200-A (Page 4) 7. Notable hardware: None. 8. Mechanical equipment: None. D. Site: 1. General setting and orientation: The house faces south and is now the easternmost house of the area of Dayton Street knows as "Millionaires Row." 2. Outbuildings: There is a garage at the rear of the lot. Prepared by: J- William Rudd Project Supervisor National Park Service August, PART III. PROJECT INFORMATION These data are part of the documentation made during the Cincinnati Project undertaken by HABS in cooperation with the Miami Purchase Association and City of Cincinnati.

Records were made of a part of the Dayton Street Historic interest Area of the City of Cincinnati. The project was under the general supervision of John Poppeliers, Chief of the Historic American Buildings Survey. The project supervisor was J. William Rudd of the University of Cincinnati. The project historian was Carl A. Saladino of the Ohio State University. The measured drawings for the project were prepared by architects Steven B. Kells (University of Cincinnati) and Richard Wyatt (Cali- fornia Politechnic State University, San Luis Obispo), and student assistant architects William Maxwell Miller (University of Pennsylvania) and Osbourne K. Simms III (University of Illinois, Chicago Circle). The photographs were taken by HABS photographer Jack E. Boucher in July