Seven Chimneys
Did you know West Chester, Ohio is home to a documented stop on the Underground Railroad?
Built before the Civil War about a mile north of the Sharonville border in Butler County, the now privately-owned property at 9797 Cincinnati Columbus Road (US 42) in Pisgah is legendary as a stop on the path to freedom for enslaved African Americans.
Designed in the Early Republic/Colonial Revival style (sometimes also described as Greek Revival or Jeffersonian Classicism), the structure is aptly known by the name Seven Chimneys for some of its striking architectural characteristics, namely its seven brick chimneys. Other notable features include a limestone foundation, a U-shaped floorplan, two enclosed side porches and a stately columned front porch, visible from the street looking west.
The house, which dates to the turn of the 19th century, is sometimes referred to as the Spread Eagle Tavern or the James D. Conrey House, among other names, due in part to its monumental legacy.
As described on page 123 of Virginia Shewalter’s, “A History of Union Township, Butler County, Ohio,” James D. Conrey inherited this nearly 2-acre property from his father Jonathan Conrey in 1827. James married his first wife Anna Layman Conrey in 1816 and the couple, devout Methodists and noted abolitionists, were known to regularly host retreats here for traveling members of the clergy.
In the 200 years since those days, a number of new owners have inhabited the building as both a home and a place of business. This location operated as a tavern through the 1800s and a hotel in the 1900s, later opening for a brief stint as a restaurant, called the Colonial Farm Restaurant or Colonial Inn, in the 1940s and 1950s.
The property was last sold in the mid-1970s to its current owners, the Vaught family. At that time – approximately the same time Virginia Shewalter was writing her book – it seems the home’s legacy as a safe house for slaves seeking refuge was still mostly considered to be just a rumor.
“There is a belief that before and during the Civil War, the tavern had been used as a stopover for slaves who fled north via the ‘underground railroad’. Certainly Route 42 was one of the underground routes, and the tavern could well have been a station or stopping place, but no specific proof of this has yet been found.”
The folk history of Seven Chimneys was essentially confirmed true by the National Registry of Historic Places in 2003 when the southwest Ohio landmark was officially recognized by the federal government for its unique local significance. The property’s National Register Reference Number is 03001100 and its listing date is October 24, 2003.
According to extensive paperwork filed more than two decades ago with the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, evidence suggests that Seven Chimneys "… is said to be the stagecoach stop mentioned in Chapter Nine of ‘Uncle Tom's Cabin’ written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and published in 1852."
In 70+ pages of documentation, submitted July 1, 2001 on behalf of the FOFS/Ohio Underground Railroad Association, historians Edeena Jill Vaught Dunlap and Mary Ann Olding outline their research into the property’s provenance in detail, connecting all the dots between Stowe’s writings and historically accepted facts using source materials ranging from the 1830s through the 2000s. (Read the narrative here.)
Seven Chimneys’ legacy is neatly summarized in a passage on page 70 of, “Places of the Underground Railroad: A Geographical Guide,” a 2010 book in which co-authors Cynthia Vogel, Betty Ann Smiddy and Tom Calarco describe the Spread Eagle Tavern as “a major Underground Railroad stop” on the way north from Cincinnati.
“Located equidistant between Cincinnati and Lebanon at the top of Mount Pisgah, it was customary to exchange horses there. John Conrey operated the Lebanon stagecoach and his brother James owned the inn. The Sharonville to Springboro route was one of the busiest in transporting fugitive slaves and stagecoaches were often used. From the Spread Eagle, fugitive slaves also were sent to Oxford and Hamilton along the Cincinnati Dayton Road about a mile away.”
James and Anna Conrey – among some of West Chester’s earliest pioneers and founding families – are listed in “The Underground Railroad,” a 2007 encyclopedia of antislavery people, places and operations published by Mary Ellen Snodgrass. This encyclopedia is included in the Library of Congress.
What are your memories of Seven Chimneys/the Spread Eagle Tavern/the Colonial Inn?
As part of our bicentennial anniversary celebration, West Chester is collecting stories from long-time residents and stakeholders. Consider sharing your recollections with us for the West Chester Community Storytellers playlist, a series of oral history interviews. Complete a quick questionnaire to get started.
Two dozen Community Storytellers episodes are now available to watch on West Chester TV. Download the WCTV mobile app for Apple and Android, or watch on ROKU and Amazon Fire TV enabled devices. Programming is also available at www.WestChesterOH.org/WCTV.