Five Mile House
Also known as: The Old Toll House
Why it's listed
Five Mile House is a two-story, L-shaped stone building on the old Maysville Pike near Zanesville, Ohio. Its nine-bay facade is divided into three sections, and a datestone reads 1839. The earliest portion, at the rear, may date to about 1812, when the James family had settled in the area. The right-hand section of the facade was probably built by 1818, when a tavern was operating on the site. In 1839 Caleb James enlarged the building to serve traffic on the new Maysville Pike, using contractor George Highfield. The house served as a roadside tavern first on Zane's Trace and then on the turnpike. The nomination also cites a diary by abolitionist Thomas L. Gray naming it as an Underground Railroad station, and notes the hiding places in its large attic and basement. After the highway was rerouted in the 1950s, the building became a country store and gift shop, and restoration continues.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it an excellent example of an early Ohio stone roadhouse-tavern. It is tied to two Ohio transportation routes, Zane's Trace and the Maysville Pike. It is also documented as a station on the Underground Railroad in the 1840s and 1850s.
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 77001081, listed April 11, 1977. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | S of Zanesville off U.S. 22, Zanesville |
|---|---|
| County | Muskingum County |
| Listed | April 11, 1977 |
| Reference number | 77001081 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architect / builder | George Highfield, contractor (1839) |
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in good condition and altered; in use as a country store and gift shop beside Moxahala Park, with restoration under way and most of the 1920s stucco removed. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 39.88200, -82.05869 (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 77001081.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q138641213
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.