Richardville House facts for kids

Chief Jean-Baptiste de Richardville House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Front of the house
Location in Indiana Show map of Indiana Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	5705 Bluffton Road, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Area	0.8 acres (0.32 ha)
Built	1827
Architect	Hugh Hann; A. G. Ballard
Architectural style	Mid-nineteenth-century revival, I-house
NRHP reference No.	97000595
Quick facts for kids Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 27, 1997
Designated NHL	March 2, 2012

The Chief Jean Baptiste de Richardville House was built near Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1827. Subsidized by the U.S. federal government through the 1826 Treaty of Mississinewas, it is believed to be one of only three treaty houses built east of the Mississippi River. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on March 2, 2012.

History

Chief Richardville, the principal chief of the Miami from 1812 until his death in 1841, signed several treaties with the United States government as it negotiated with the Miami tribe for its eventual removal from Indiana as a recognized nation. Lands were reserved for Richardville's personal use, and $600 was provided for the building of a home.

The Richardville House's architecture reflects both Greek Revival and Federal styles. When completed, using both the government's and his own funds, Richardville's Fort Wayne home was the equal in style and grandeur of the homes of prominent white residents of the area at that time. The Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society acquired the house in 1991 with money donated by the Foellinger Foundation and the Ropchan Foundation.

Farther south and west lies the trading and meeting place where the Wabash River and the Wabash and Erie Canal intersected in Huntington, Indiana. Here is another home where Richardville lived – a white, two-story Greek Revival filled with period furniture and portraits of the owners. This is also the site where treaties were signed. Today, this house forms the centerpiece of the historic Forks of the Wabash park.