The Morris Sharp House is a historic residence in the city of

Washington Court House Washington Court House (often abbreviated as Washington C.H.) is a city in Union Township, Fayette County, Ohio. It is the county seat of Fayette County and is located between Cincinnati and Columbus. The population grew almost 1.5% from 2010 ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

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. Built to be the home of one of the city's leading citizens, it has remained the architectural landmark that it was designed to be. The house has served as a museum for nearly fifty years, and it has been designated a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been re ...

Morris Sharp

Morris Sharp was born at Aberdeen, Ohio on 30 August 1838 and with his family he moved to Jamestown in 1851 before settling in Washington Court House.Allen, Frank M., ed. ''History of Fayette County Ohio: Her People, Industries and Institutions''. Indianapolis: Bowen, 1914. He joined his father in the family business after completing his education,Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 413. but after his health failed him, he was compelled to change his vocation, and upon the formation of the Merchants and Farmers Bank in early 1872, Sharp was appointed the bank's first cashier. He rapidly became one of the foremost citizens of his adopted city because of his unusual business ability, and until his death in early 1905, he was actively engaged in the management of extensive banking interests and extensive agricultural tracts. A member of the local Methodist church, Sharp was a leading advocate of the

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

ist cause; he was once the Prohibition Party's candidate for

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Architecture

Constructed in 1875, the Sharp House is a brick building with a stone foundation, a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roof, and elements of wood and stone. Two stories tall, the house is a clear example of the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italia ...

style. Its design comprises two wings that join at the base of a tower at the house's enter; the interior is divided into fourteen rooms, including one on the third story of the tower, which can be reached by ascending a spiral staircase.Points of Interest
, Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, n.d. Accessed 2013-06-17. With its tower, the house is one of the city's tallest buildings; the only ones that surpass it are the courthouse and St. Colman's Catholic Church. Its prominence is further enhanced by its location at a major intersection;

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Avenues at the house. A grand design was Sharp's goal upon the house's construction; he reportedly claimed that he hoped for a house that would be "the showplace of Washington Court House".Bonnell, Kimberlee Martin.
Museum Musings
, ''

Record Herald The ''Record Herald'', earlier known as ''Washington C.H. Record-Herald'' is an American daily newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Washington Court House, Ohio. It is owned by AIM Media Midwest. Founded as a weekly in 1858, the ''Her ...

'', 2013-03-22. Accessed 2013-06-17.

Preservation

In 1958, the Fayette County Historical Society purchased the Morris Sharp House, and seven years later the property was reopened as the Fayette County Museum. It remains in use as a museum to the present; among its exhibits are historic furniture, documents, clothes, and weapons. The house gained further recognition in 1974, when it and an outbuilding were listed together on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

for their architectural significance. One of more than a dozen National Register properties in and around Washington Court House, it was one of the first to join the list; only the Fayette County Courthouse achieved this distinction sooner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Morris, House Houses completed in 1875 Buildings and structures in Fayette County, Ohio Historical society museums in Ohio Italianate architecture in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Fayette County, Ohio U.S. Route 22 U.S. Route 42 Washington Court House, Ohio 1875 establishments in Ohio