Weethee Historic District
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.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to be significant as the oldest and only remaining structure and sites tied to the Weethee family in Athens County. Daniel Weethee was a pioneer settler and early library shareholder, and his son Jonathan Perkins Weethee founded Weethee College and promoted the railroad and mineral development of the Sunday Creek Valley. The rural setting has changed little since the late 1800s.
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) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 80002941, listed January 7, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | N of Millfield, Millfield |
|---|---|
| County | Athens County |
| Listed | January 7, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80002941 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1700-1799, 1800-1899 (as marked; the form's first period is partly garbled) |
| Architect / builder | Daniel Weethee (builder of the house, per the Ohio Historic Inventory form) |
| Architectural style | Daniel Weethee House: braced frame with Italianate porch; Weethee College site: Gothic Revival |
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Education, Exploration/Settlement |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The Daniel Weethee House is described as largely unaltered and restorable but in need of maintenance, with interior and exterior in fair condition; the house is listed as vacant on its inventory form, while the district is marked occupied. |
| Acreage | 9 |
| Coordinates | 39.45288, -82.09447 (NPS GIS) |
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.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 80002941.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.