Stump, John, House And Mill
Also known as: Mudlick Mill
Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
Southwest of Germantown, on Mudlick Creek, stand a brick house and a wooden mill that John Stump built in 1817. The two-story L-shaped house follows a central hall plan with a five-bay facade, Flemish bond brick walls, fanlit doorways and a four-landing staircase with a hand-carved cherry banister. Much of its Federal interior survives, including a rare simulated marble mantel, though later additions and kitchen modernization altered parts of it. The mill is a hardwood mortise-and-tenon frame building with a stone cellar that held the mill wheels; its second story was rebuilt after a 1959 fire. Stump also ran the house as an inn on the Lebanon-Eaton Trace. Later owner Christian Rohrer made bourbon whiskey here, and his son David expanded the distillery until 1914. The mill served as bonded whiskey storage. It was restored and opened as a private museum of Americana.
Significance in brief: The house is described as one of the finest local examples of the Adams style as adapted to early Ohio architecture. The mill, later used to store bonded whiskey, is presented as a monument to the industrial history of German Township. The property is also tied to John Stump and to the Rohrer family, who made the first bourbon whiskey distilled in Montgomery County.
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 75001509, listed July 7, 1975. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | SW of Germantown at jct. of Signal and Oxford Rds., Germantown |
|---|---|
| County | Montgomery County |
| Listed | July 7, 1975 |
| Reference number | 75001509 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1817 |
| Architect / builder | John Stump |
| Architectural style | Adams style (Federal) |
| Areas of significance | Industry, Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Privately owned; the mill was restored and operated as a private museum of Americana open to the public, and the owner was planning to sell the property in separate parcels. |
| Acreage | 9 |
| Coordinates | 39.61730, -84.39074 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
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 75001509.
- 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.