Weethee Historic District
The National Park Service has not published a boundary polygon for this district; the map shows the listed properties inside it and the district's reference point.
Why it's listed
North of Millfield in Athens County, Ohio, this nine-acre district preserves traces of one pioneer family's role in the Sunday Creek Valley. It includes the braced-frame house built by Daniel Weethee, a New Hampshire cooper who reached the area in 1799, a surviving stretch of the old stage coach road between Chillicothe and Marietta, and the site of Weethee College on College Hill. The house, dated between 1804 and 1814 in different parts of the form, has five fireplaces, original flooring and pre-Victorian interior woodwork. Daniel's son, Jonathan Perkins Weethee, founded the college in the 1860s, and the house later served as a male dormitory. He also promoted railroads and the valley's coal resources. Later residents included Charles Bryson and Bernarda Bryson Shahn, wife of artist Ben Shahn. The area has been bypassed by modern development and is still used locally as a landmark.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | 1700-1799, 1800-1899 (as marked; the form's first period is partly garbled) |
|---|---|
| Styles | Daniel Weethee House: braced frame with Italianate porch; Weethee College site: Gothic Revival |
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Education, Exploration/Settlement |
| Acreage | 9 |
| Boundary source | not published |
| Full listing page | Weethee Historic District (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.