Jonathan Sprague House
The Jonathan Sprague House is a historic residence in northwestern Washington County, Ohio, United States. Located atop a bluff above the Muskingum River, it is one of Washington County's most significant houses, due to its age and method of construction.[2]
Jonathan Sprague House | |
Front of the house | |
Nearest city | Lowell, Ohio |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°33′34″N 81°34′13″W |
Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
Built | 1800 |
Architect | Jonathan Sprague |
Architectural style | Federal |
NRHP reference No. | 83002067[1] |
Added to NRHP | January 11, 1983 |
Joshua Sprague and his sons William and Jonathan migrated to Marietta in 1788, less than a year after it was founded as the first white settlement in the Northwest Territory;[3] there, they soon signed a contract to contribute to the construction of Campus Martius.[2] After living in Marietta for a time, the three men moved to the vicinity of present-day Waterford; Joshua and William later left the area, but Jonathan remained where he had settled.[3] Here, he farmed, pursued the trade of carpentry, and operated a gristmill.[2]
At the age of thirty-three, Jonathan constructed the present house. Built in the Federal style of architecture, it is three-and-a-half stories tall and built primarily of large blocks of sandstone. When it was completed in 1800, it was the first stone house to be built anywhere in Washington County.[2] Sprague's barn, completed in 1803,[4] is also historically significant as one of the oldest extant barns in the county.[2]
In 1983, the Jonathan Sprague House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with the barn.[1] Key to this designation was the property's nature as a rare survivor of Ohio's earliest architecture: architectural historians have seen the house as a fine example of the Federal architecture, and the barn — while architecturally undistinctive — is nevertheless an important survivor of the earliest years of Washington County's history.[2] Located west of Lowell across the Muskingum from State Route 60,[1] it is close to two other historic sites: the Mason House and the Coal Run Historic District, both located in the community of Coal Run,[1] lie approximately 0.75 miles (1.21 km) to the northwest.[5]
References
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 1399.
- Andrews, Martin R., ed. History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio and Representative Citizens. Chicago: Biographical, 1902, 480.
- Sprague, Jonathan, House, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2011-01-22.
- DeLorme. Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer. 7th ed. Yarmouth: DeLorme, 2004, 71. ISBN 0-89933-281-1.