Description: The Joseph Ferris home was at one time located at 5801 Wooster Pike (US 50) in Cincinnati, Ohio on a 700 acre farm in the village of Mariemont in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Federal and Greek Revival style house, designed by Joseph Ferris himself, now has the address of 5729 Dragon Way, Fairfax, Ohio, due to the expansion of the roads going through the property. The home was originally built either in 1815 or 1820 of red brick with white trim and a large porch. The home was improved upon many times. First, a narrow offset two story addition, which may have been later connected to the main house, with the result being a grand three story home with Ionic columns supporting a portico, which today stands on .9 acres of land. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places June 30, 1975 and is now occupied by the Eisele Gallery of Fine Art. Joseph Ferris, son of Jedathan Ferris, was born in Fairfield County, Connecticut on September 20, 1776 and died May 16, 1831. He moved to the Cincinnati area with his two brothers, Andrew and Eliphalet Ferris. They were one of only a dozen or so families in what was then Spencer Township. He married Pricilla Knapp, with whom he had eight children; Phoebe, Andrew, Charles, Joseph, Sally (Sarah), Mary, James and Ruth. Joseph built a frame house school on his farm, the first in the area, and hired teachers, whom he paid himself, to educate not only his children, but any others who wanted to attend. He was a prominent member of the community, a Whig and a member of the Masonic Lodge of Cincinnati. His children Joseph (died December 22, 1891), Andrew (died May 8, 1890), Charles (died September 2, 1883), and Phoebe (died December 18, 1896) never married and remained living together in the family home until their deaths. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of Cambridge, Massachusetts explored the area in 1880 and found many important Indian relics including earthwork remains of three forts, about 1400 skeletons, weapons such as jasper spearheads, bone and stone implements and cooking vessels. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F05_030_001
Subjects: Architecture; Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc; May Department Store Company; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Mariemont (Ohio); Fairfax (Ohio); Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)