The William Stearns House is a historic residence in the city of
Wyoming,
Ohio,
United States, near
Cincinnati. Built at the turn of the twentieth century, it was the home of a business baron, and it has been designated a
historic site.
William Stearns
William Stearns was a member of a family of prominent industrialists; his father George was a founding partner of
Stearns and Foster, a company that owned a
textile mill in the nearby village of
Lockland
Lockland is a village in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,449 at the 2010 United States Census. Lockland is located in southwest Ohio, north of Cincinnati. Its population has declined since the latter part of the 20th cent ...
and operated a mattress-manufacturing plant. Born in 1857, Stearns eventually came to head the company before his death in 1937.
[Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 675-676.]
Historic context
Good transportation is a leading reason for Wyoming's prosperity. The city lies near the old pre-statehood road that connected
Cincinnati with locations farther north, such as
Fort Hamilton and
Fallen Timbers
The Battle of Fallen Timbers (20 August 1794) was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Indigenous peoples of North America, Native American tribes affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and their Kingdom of Gre ...
. Curves in the road were cut off in 1806, forming a new road that is today followed by
Springfield Pike through central Wyoming. Improvements in the 1830s only enhanced its importance.
[McCauley, Jennifer. '. National Park Service, 1985-08-16. Accessed 2011-02-26.] By this time, another mode of transportation had become significant: the
Miami and Erie Canal
The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that ran from Cincinnati to Toledo, Ohio, creating a water route between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845 at a cost to the state government of $ ...
was built a short distance to the east in 1828, and the village of Lockland grew up along its side. Railroads reached the city in 1851 with the construction of the
Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad on the border between Lockland and Wyoming.
Because of Wyoming's proximity to the industry of Lockland, its easy transportation to the booming city of Cincinnati, and its pleasant scenery, many wealthy industrialists purchased local farms and built grand country houses.
Most such houses were built in the Wyoming Hills area, west of Springfield Pike;
growth in this area continued until the coming of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
.
Architecture
Built in 1900,
the Stearns House is a brick building with a stone
foundation and a
terracotta roof.
[, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2012-11-22.] Some of its structural details place it into the
Queen Anne style of architecture, although its simple rectangular plan is atypical of the style. The two-and-a-half-
story residence features a
pavilion on the left side of the facade and a large porch elsewhere on the front and eastern side. One wishing to enter the house will ascend
sandstone steps to the porch, which features iron railings,
Ionic columns, and an ornate
balustrade
A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...
. All of its architectural elements combine to make it one of the city's most prominent examples of the Queen Anne style.
Historic site
In 1979, a local
historic preservation group began a citywide survey to identify Wyoming's historic buildings,
and this effort culminated with a
multiple property submission of eighteen houses, the
Wyoming Presbyterian Church
Wyoming Presbyterian Church is a registered historic building in Wyoming, Ohio, Wyoming, Ohio, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, National Register on March 3, 1980.
The church building was completed May 18, 1890,http://pcwyo ...
, and one
historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...
to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Among these houses was
the home of Edward R. Stearns, William's relative and another early Stearns and Foster executive.
Along with all but one of the other properties, both Stearns houses were listed on the Register in the following year, qualifying because of their important architecture and because of their prominent original residents. The William Stearns House is one of five Reily Road houses included in this group, along with the
Charles Fay House, the
Luethstrom-Hurin House, the
John C. Pollock House, and the
Louis Sawyer House.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stearns, William, House
Houses completed in 1900
Houses in Wyoming, Ohio
National Register of Historic Places in Hamilton County, Ohio
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
Queen Anne architecture in Ohio