Floraville Historic District

About this property

Floraville is one of four historic districts in Lebanon, Ohio listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is roughly bounded by Keever St. to the west, Cincinnati Ave. to the north, East St. to the east, and Orchard Ave. to the south. Comprising 440 acres, the district includes 61 buildings and 1 structure. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 10, 1984 The first recorded inhabitants of the area now known as Floraville were a company of Native American Indians that would regularly camp on the hillside just south of Cincinnati Pike (now Cincinnati Avenue). First observed in the winter of 1798, 4 years before Lebanon is platted, they are seen for a short time each spring making sugar in what is now the western end of Floraville. According to a letter written by John C Skinner, dated October 31, 1889, and published in The Western Star, up until at least 1824 there was only one dwelling, the Maple-Rackett House (229 S Mechanic St.), within the boundaries now considered Floraville. That quickly changed as Lebanon established itself as the most important city in Warren County and a golden age of architecture came to the town. By 1839 there were 10 carpenter and joiner shops with 38 hands, a testament to the building activity in the area. The now wealthy professionals and businessmen looked outside city limits to establish their grand estates. Many set their eyes to the rolling hillside of the old Indian sugar camp, just south of the urban center. "And be it further enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the town of Floraville, in Warren county, be, and the same is hereby created a town corporate by the name of the town of Floraville, with the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the north-west corner of a lot of ground, now owned by Matthew Koogle, running thence in a southerly direction to the south-west corner of a lot of six acres and owned by George Miller, thence east to a point in the lands of A. H. Denelavy, and south from the west corner of a lot owned by John E. Dey, thence north to said corner of said Dey’s lot, thence west along the Lebanon and Chillicothe road to a lane running through John E. Dey’s land, thence down said lane to a road leading to Wilmington, thence west along the centre of said road to the line between the lands of Simon Suydam and Amos Smith, thence south on said Suydam and Smith’s line to the south bank of Turtle Creek, thence down the south bank of said creek to the place of beginning. The said town of Floraville shall be entitled to all the privileges, and be subject to all the restrictions, conferred and imposed by the provisions of an act entitled An act for the regulation of incorporated towns"In March 1862 Floraville was annexed into the growing city of Lebanon, but its splendor was not lost. In an 1873 letter to the editor of the Jackson Standard the district was described as follows:"Floraville, the south-western part of [Lebanon], is the prettiest part of it. It is noted for its nice and most beautiful buildings, and in the yards there are many beautiful trees, of different kinds, which adds a great deal to its appearance"Nearing the turn of the century, some of the large land tracts were partitioned into smaller lots for more modest homes. A few decades later, the demand for stately mansions plummeted with the onset of the Great Depression. Most of the houses stayed intact but were repurposed to fit the changing demographic: Glendower Historic Mansion (105 Cincinnati Ave) became a museum for many years and was only recently restored to a private residence in 2023; the Parshall-Runyan House (220 Mechanic St) began functioning as a nursing home and remained as such for almost 70 years; a number of other homes were converted to multi-unit apartments. After the turn of the most recent century, a renewed interest in restoring these iconic structures has taken hold. Most have been reverted to single-family dwellings and restored to their former glory. The proximity to downtown Lebanon and picturesque setting make the ideal location for a bed and breakfast or vacation rental, both of which can currently be found scattered throughout the district. In October 1984 the area was listed on the US Register of Historic Places, further preserving Floraville's history for many more generations to come.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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