The Dewitt Log Homestead is a historic building near
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
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 ...
, listed in the
National Register
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 ...
on 1973-04-13.
This
log cabin
A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers.
Eur ...
was built in 1805 by Zachariah Price Dewitt and Elizabeth Dewitt and is the oldest extant structure in the Oxford Township of
Butler County, Ohio
Butler County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 390,357. Its county seat is Hamilton. It is named for General Richard Butler, who died in 1791 during St. Clair' ...
. It is the only remaining home of the several built by pioneers along the Four-Mile Creek, just east of what is now the
Miami University
Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...
campus. The cabin and surrounding land is now owned by Miami University and is maintained by the Oxford Museum Association as a
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...
. The cabin is on the north side of
Ohio State Route 73
State Route 73 (SR 73) is an east–west state highway in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. Its western terminus is on U.S. Route 27 in Oxford at the intersection of SR 732. SR 73’s eastern terminus is in Portsmouth at US 23 ...
where it crosses Four-Mile Creek.
Zachariah DeWitt was born on April 24, 1768, in New Jersey, and by the 1780s, he had resettled in Kentucky along with two brothers. He married Elizabeth Teets (b. 1774) on March 11, 1790. When Ohio became a state in 1803, residents of Kentucky were drawn to its cheap and newly available land. By 1805 Zachariah and Elizabeth DeWitt had resettled near Four Mile Creek where he built his cabin and opened a sawmill. The cabin is on the east bank of the creek just north of Route 73. Both Zacariah and Elizabeth Dewittt are buried in the
Darrtown, Ohio Pioneer Cemetery.
The cabin is located on property belonging to Miami University, and the structure has been leased to the Oxford Museum Association. The association undertook the restoration of the house in 1973. Work included exposing and fixing the original adz-marked timber walls, rebuilding the limestone chimney, and replacing floors. The smokehouse was restored in 1999–2000. The association finished its work in 2003. Later work included interior work. The site was dedicated in May 2003.
References
Further reading
*Smith, Ophia D. ''Old Oxford Houses and the People Who Lived In Them''. Bicentennial Edition, 1976.
External links
Oxford Museum Association - official site
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
Miami University
Log cabins in the United States
Houses completed in 1805
Houses in Butler County, Ohio
National Register of Historic Places in Butler County, Ohio
Museums in Butler County, Ohio
Historic house museums in Ohio
1805 establishments in Ohio
Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
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