The Captain Jonathan Stone House is a historic residence in the city of Belpre,

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. Built just ten years after Belpre's 1789 establishment on the north bank of the

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, it is the oldest existing building in the city.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 1400. Born in 1751, Jonathan Stone joined the

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early in the

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. After the Treaty of Paris, he moved to the Belpre vicinity. He and his family built a

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

on their land during a war with local Native Americans in the early 1790s; it was known as "Stone's Fort." As the Belpre region developed, Stone became a leading member of the area's society; he was elected

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

of Washington County, and he was one of the three commissioners chosen to survey lands for the future

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to the west. Stone's house in Belpre is a two-

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Narrative, an account of imaginary or real people and events ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting ** News story, an event or topic reported by a news orga ...

structure; except for a small wing on the rear northwestern corner, it is a rectangular building. The entire structure rests on a foundation of

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, and it is covered by a metal roof. Among its owners since Stone have been Dr. Thomas and Janet Barrett. At some point after Stone's life, the house was moved to its present location at 612 Blennerhassett Avenue.,

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, 2007. Accessed 2011-01-03. In 1978, the Stone House was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

because of its historically significant architecture; it was seen as historic because of its place as a rare surviving example of Ohio's earliest residential architecture. It is one of four Belpre locations on the Register, along with the Charles Rice Ames House, the Sixth Street Railroad Bridge, and Spencer's Landing. Capt. Jonathan's son, Colonel John Stone, was another occupant of the house. He was an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

with a bounty on his head offered by defenders of slavery in the state of Virginia; he therefore did not cross the river to Parkersburg (in what is now West Virginia) for more than 20 years. He is known to have "spirited many escaped slaves northward toward Canada". Includes three photos from 1976. ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Capt. Jonathan, House Houses completed in 1799 Houses in Washington County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Ohio Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Relocated buildings and structures in Ohio Relocated houses Belpre, Ohio