Betts House, Historical house in West End, Cincinnati, United States.
The Betts House is a two-story brick residence built in Federal period style with various room additions made over its lifetime. The building now functions as a museum and serves as headquarters for the National Society of Colonial Dames of America.
William Betts built this brick structure in 1804, making it the oldest residential building still standing in Cincinnati. It is also recognized as the oldest brick house throughout the entire state of Ohio.
The house shows how early American settlement patterns changed in Cincinnati, as rural farms gradually became urban homes. You can see through the various additions how the family adapted their way of living to the growing city.
The building sits on uneven ground with several stairs between different levels, so wear comfortable shoes for walking through it. Visitors should take time to explore the small rooms and their arrangement, which reflects how people lived in that era.
The original farmland covered roughly 111 acres and included an on-site brick yard and peach orchard, showing how self-sufficient the family's operation was. These self-supporting structures disappeared as the land was gradually absorbed into the expanding city.
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