Spring Hill

About this property

Spring Hill is a historic home museum in Massillon, Ohio. The estate was settled and started by Thomas and Charity Rotch, and it was eventually owned by the Wales family for three generations. Spring Hill is recognized on the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The estate encompasses the main house and several outbuildings, including a smokehouse, spring house, milk house, and wool house Thomas and Charity Rotch, originally from New Bedford, Massachusetts, traveled westward in January 1811, looking for a place to settle and create a homestead. The Rotches moved westward at the suggestion of Dr. Benjamin Rush. Charity Rotch had frequent fevers and was looking for a milder climate. Thomas Rotch, a Quaker, involved in the wool industry, needed a location where his sheep could graze and where the wool could be easily transported. Upon meeting friendly Quakers in the town of Steubenville, Ohio, the Rotches were given good reports of the area around Sippo Creek. Thomas decided to move his family to this area for fresh water and the cleared land around the creek. Along the way, Thomas Rotch met Arvine Wales, who would become a dear friend to the family. He would eventually purchase Spring Hill after the passing of both Thomas and Charity Rotch. The family would remain at Spring Hill until 1966, when the estate was turned into a museum. Upon settling in the area, Thomas and Charity Rotch started laying out the homestead and named it Kendal, after a textile center in England. Rotch laid out streets and squares, recreating a collection of homes and businesses that resembled a New England town. Many of those early settlers who settled down in the new village of Kendal were fellow Quakers. The town was officially founded on April 20, 1812. By 1817, the town of Kendal was growing, with over 100 plats of land being settled. Being a community of mostly Quakers, the area was also staunchly abolitionist. Routes and stops on the Underground Railroad went through Kendal as early as 1817. Between 1821 and 1865, no slaves were ever caught while being kept safe at Spring Hill. Spring Hill was built between 1821 and 1824 by architect Jehial Fox. The main house at Spring Hill is 80 feet long. Jehial Fox built the homestead with various materials, such as stone, brick, and oak planks. Some of the oak planks are large, with some pieces being as large as 28 feet long. The house initially used a Franklin stove. This fireplace was updated in 1831 by Arvine Wales, who converted the stove into a fireplace. Arvine Wales also made most of the changes to the original estate. Some of his additional changes included adding a western wing to the house. The Wales family also added a small bathroom to a bedroom on the second floor. Also, by adding a wall to the parlor on the first floor, the Wales family could create another bathroom. Finally, by changing the walls around the kitchen and the dining room, a breakfast room and a kitchen on the first floor could be created. Initially, the kitchen was downstairs, and either staff or family used a dumb waiter to transport food up and down. However, this was removed and is no longer seen. In 1920, a second edition was added to the western wing of the house by adding a screened-in porch. This addition was the last major renovation that would take place at Spring Hill as a family residence.

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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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