The Howe Tavern is a historic former hotel in the Butler County portion of College Corner,

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. Constructed before the village was founded, it remained a hotel into the late 20th century, and it has been named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been re ...

. In 1832, Gideon Sears Howe bought the site of College Corner from

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in nearby

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; the site was significant for its spot on the road (now U.S. Route 27) connecting

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Cincinnati along the Great Miami River, Hamilton is the second-most populous city in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and the List of municipaliti ...

with

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. Here he arranged for the erection of a tavern, which opened in the following year. Other settlers began coming before long, and in 1837 Howe

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ted a town around the tavern, naming it "College Corner".Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 93. The area's earliest buildings were built in 1811, and a post office was established in the Preble County portion of the community in 1830, but the Howe Tavern was the community's earliest example of permanent construction. It remained in its original use into the 1970s. Built of brick, the tavern rests on a foundation of stone and is covered with a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d roof. The facade is divided into three bays: on the second floor, the right and middle bays are pierced by two windows, while the left bay is only wide enough for one window. From right to left, the five windows sit above a door, a window, a window, a door, and a porch-like window.,

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, 2007. Accessed 2014-01-01. The original building is two-and-a-half stories tall, built as a rectangle, although a later two-story addition on the northwestern corner causes the whole building to resemble the shape of the letter "L". In 1976, the tavern was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, qualifying both because of its place in local history and because of its historically significant architecture, because of its place as the core of the original community and because it remained a fine example of inns from the early nineteenth century, respectively. No other locations in College Corner, nor any in West College Corner in

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just a few feet west, are listed on the National Register.

References

{{NRHP in Butler County, Ohio Hotel buildings completed in 1832 Buildings and structures in Butler County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Butler County, Ohio Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio U.S. Route 27 1833 establishments in Ohio