{"nrhp_refnum":"84002696","name":"Sawyer-Curtis House","other_names":["The Curtis House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Off U.S. 50","address_restricted":false,"city":"Little Hocking","county":"Washington County","state":"OH","lat":39.260866812000074,"lon":-81.69610898199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-10-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, timber-framed farmhouse with a central chimney, built in 1798 above the Ohio River at Little Hocking, Washington County, Ohio, with a small outbuilding behind it that once held the first post office.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the earliest surviving houses in Ohio and reportedly the first permanent house in Belpre Township. Its heavy timber frame and central-chimney hall-and-parlor plan show New England building traditions carried into the Ohio Valley. It is also tied to Nathaniel Sawyer, an early pioneer, and to Horace Curtis, a prominent local citizen.","narrative":"Built in 1798 above the Ohio River at Little Hocking, this two-story, five-bay house has a hewn timber frame, clapboard siding, a central chimney and a hipped roof. Its plan, with a front entry, a dog-leg staircase and a large room on each side of the chimney, follows traditional New England layouts. Italianate porches and eave brackets were added in the late 1850s. Inside, the frame includes round and hewn floor joists and a hewn roof structure with two king posts. Surviving features include walnut staircases, Federal-style doors and a Federal mantel. Nathaniel Sawyer, a Revolutionary War soldier from Massachusetts, built it and is credited with settling lower Belpre and Little Hocking. Horace Curtis bought it in 1820, established the first post office in 1824, opened a general store and built the first toll bridge. A small building behind the house served as the post office and store. The house is one of the last pioneer-era houses in southeast Ohio.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"New England central-chimney hall/parlor farmhouse with later Italianate porches and brackets","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in good condition, used as a private residence; some original woodwork such as mantels is missing and the windows were replaced around 1900.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.72242-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/84002696.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002696/5a2140a930-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002696/5a2140a930-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Bwsmith84 (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sawyer-Curtis_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bwsmith84 (talk)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sawyer-Curtis_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991917","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawyer%E2%80%93Curtis_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7428724"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/washington-county/sawyer-curtis-house-84002696/"}