Asahel Wright
House
26 N. Main St.
Date: Family records tell us that Aaron Nutt platted this block in 1805 or 1806 and that the house was built at that time.
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Asahel Wright
House
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| Date: Family records tell us that Aaron Nutt platted this block in 1805 or 1806 and that the house was built at that time.
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| Features: The trapezoidal shaped
lintels over the door and the two first floor windows on the façade sets
this building apart from other early stone houses. The placement
of the fireplace in the northeast corner of the house is also unique in
our area. The chimney crosses over to the center of the wall
upstairs. And the front door placed to the left makes this a
Three-Quarters house, most in the area having centered front doors.
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| Owners: A plat map recorded in 1817 lists
C. Williams as the owner of the south half of Lot 3. The sale was
probably an informal sale as he is not listed as ever holding a deed for
that property. The house is designated as the Asahel Wright house
as the first official deed holder, but the building was probably ten years old
when Asahel Wright purchased it. Asahel Wright, a great-uncle of
Wilbur and Orville Wright, purchased the property on August 16, 1816. In 1978, the City of
Centerville acquired the buildings and rented them for a dollar a year
to the International Women's Air and Space Museum after the building was
restored and renovated. After the museum moved to the Cleveland
airport, the building opened in October 1999 as a Community Center run
by the Historical Society.
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| Other: The small frame building by the sidewalk was added around 1830 when Leonard Ream, a skilled hat maker, owned the property. About 1860, the two-story frame section of the stone house was built. |