The Charlton Wallace House is a historic residence in the
East Walnut Hills
East Walnut Hills is a neighborhood on the Southeast side of Cincinnati, Ohio. The population was 4,103 at the 2020 census. Demographics
Source - City of Cincinnati Statistical Database
History
Founded in 1867 as the incorporated Village of Wo ...
neighborhood of
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, United States. Older than all other houses in the neighborhood, it was constructed in 1840 for a group of French-born
Catholic monks
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicat ...
who brought the house's elaborate
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
up the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
from
.
[Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. ]St. Clair Shores
St. Clair Shores is a suburban city bordering Lake St. Clair in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms a part of the Metro Detroit area, and is located about northeast of downtown Detroit. Its population was 59,715 at the 2010 ce ...
: Somerset, 1999, 684.
Built with a mix of stone and brick on a stone
foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
,
[, ]Ohio Historical Society
Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...
, 2007. Accessed 2011-03-23. the Wallace House was constructed in a distinctive
French Provincial
''French Provincial'' (french: Souvenirs d’en France) is a 1975 French drama film directed by André Téchiné, starring Jeanne Moreau, Michel Auclair and Marie-France Pisier. The film presents an overview of French life and politics though th ...
style of architecture. Its unusual architecture mixes plain, unadorned elements with certain
Romantic elements that is common in French Provincial buildings in the United States. In 1849, the house was converted into a
rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage.
Function
A clergy house is typically ow ...
for the newly founded
St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church. Given its new role, the house became a leading part of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
's presence in the neighborhood. With the construction of the new church building on an adjacent lot in 1851, the parish priest moved into the house, and it was also used as the
parish school
A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...
in its earliest years. Additionally, the house may have served a more surreptitious purpose: local legend holds that a room in the rear of the basement was employed as a
station
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
on the
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...
.
In 1877, the parish began to build its present complex of buildings on Woodburn Avenue in Walnut Hills.
After the completion of the new property, the parish sold the property;
it was later used as the private residence of a family named Baumgartner.
In 1976, the house was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
,
qualifying because of its well-preserved historic architecture and because of its place in local history.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Charlton, House
Houses completed in 1840
Houses in Cincinnati
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
Houses on the Underground Railroad
National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati
Clergy houses in the United States
Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Cincinnati