The John Rankin House is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as 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 variety of ...

at 6152 Rankin Hill Road in

Ripley, Ohio Ripley is a village in Union Township, Brown County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River 50 miles southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 1,591 at the 2020 census. History Colonel James Poage, a veteran of the American Revolution, a ...

. Built in 1828, it was home to

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

John Rankin, and was one of the original stops on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...

's visit to Rankin provided some of the story that became ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

''. The house was acquired by the State of Ohio in 1938 and is now operated by the

Ohio History Connection 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 ...

and opened for tours. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1997.

Description and history

The John Rankin House occupies a prominent position on a hill overlooking the town of Ripley and the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

. It is set on about , accessed via a drive and visitors center off Rankin Hill Road (County Road 556). The house is a modest -story brick structure, with a side-facing gabled roof. The main facade is three bays wide, with a center entrance flanked by sash windows in rectangular openings. The entry is sheltered by a portico with a shallow-pitch gable roof and square posts. The interior follows a typical center hall plan, with four rooms on the ground floor and two small bedrooms in the attic level. The interior retains original features and finishes, including wide floor boards and carved fireplace surrounds. The house was built in 1828 by the abolitionist Presbyterian minister John Rankin, and it is where he raised a large family. It also became a significant stopping point for fugitive slaves who had crossed the river from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, a slave state, often under guidance from a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. Rankin is estimated to have assisted in securing the freedom of more than 2,000 slaves, often at great personal risk. The house was often under surveillance by slave catchers, and some slave owners had placed a price on his head. The Rankins sold the house after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, and it was purchased by the state in 1938 for use as a historic site.

References

External links

Ohio History Connection
National Park Service
Historic American Buildings Survey
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rankin, John, House National Historic Landmarks in Ohio Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Houses completed in 1828 Historic house museums in Ohio Houses on the Underground Railroad Museums in Brown County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Brown County, Ohio African-American museums in Ohio Ohio History Connection Houses in Brown County, Ohio

Description and history

See also

References

External links