Twin Oaks (Wyoming, Ohio) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Twin Oaks
Robert Reily House |
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Front of Twin Oaks
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 Location in Ohio
Location in the United States
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| Location | 629 Liddle Lane, Wyoming, Ohio |
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| Area | 0.6 acres (0.2 ha) |
| Built | 1854 |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival, Queen Anne |
| MPS | Wyoming MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 75001438 and 86001640 |
| Added to NRHP | May 29, 1975 and August 25, 1986 |
Twin Oaks, also known as the "Robert Reily House", is an old and important home. It is located in the city of Wyoming, near Cincinnati. This area is in the southwestern part of Ohio. The house was built in the mid-1800s. It was the home of Robert Reily, a very important person in early Wyoming. Twin Oaks is made of strong stone. It mixes two cool building styles from that time. Today, it is known as a historic site.
What Twin Oaks Looks Like
Twin Oaks is mostly a stone building. Its main walls are made of brick inside. It has a strong stone base and a slate roof. There are also small parts made of iron and wooden decorations. The house is two and a half stories tall. It has a hip roof, which means all sides slope down to the walls.
The main style of the house is Queen Anne. But when it was first built, it looked more like a Gothic Revival home. The front of the house has two main sections. Each section has two windows. The section on the right side (when you look from the street) goes up to a pointed roof part called a gable. This part has four windows. The left section stops at the normal roofline. This is where you'll find the main front door. There is also a side door with a small covered porch. This side door is under another smaller gable at the back.
Why Wyoming Grew
Wyoming became a successful place because of good transportation. An old road connected Cincinnati to places like Fort Hamilton. This road was improved in 1806. Today, this new road is called Springfield Pike. More improvements in the 1830s made it even more important.
Another way to travel became popular around this time. The Miami and Erie Canal was built nearby in 1828. A village called Lockland grew up next to the canal. Then, in 1851, railroads came to the area. The Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad was built between Lockland and Wyoming.
Because Wyoming was close to Lockland's factories and had easy travel to busy Cincinnati, many rich business owners bought farms there. They built large country homes. Most of these grand houses were in the Wyoming Hills area. This area is west of Springfield Pike. The building of these homes continued until the Great Depression started.
About Robert Reily
Robert Reily was born in 1820 in Butler County. His father, John Reily, was an important teacher. John started Cincinnati's first school in 1790. Robert started working when he was quite young. He worked at a store that sold imported fabrics. He began as a clerk. But he worked his way up and eventually owned the store. In 1859, when he was less than forty years old, he sold the business and retired.
Robert Reily had Twin Oaks built in 1854. It sits on a hilltop above the Mill Creek valley. Twin Oaks was the grandest of the old homes in the Wyoming Hills area. It was built to be as impressive as the Gothic Revival homes in Cincinnati.
In the early 1860s, people in the small community decided to organize and name their village. Twin Oaks was chosen as the meeting place. At first, they couldn't agree on a name. But Robert Reily supported the name "Wyoming." His idea won over the others. When the village officially became a town, he was chosen as its first mayor.
Robert Reily was mayor for only a short time. The Civil War was happening. Soon, Reily joined the army. He became a lieutenant colonel in the 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Sadly, he was killed in 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
A Special Historic Place
In 1975, Twin Oaks was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It earned this honor for two reasons. First, its architecture is historically important. Second, it was connected to Robert Reily, a key historical figure.
A few years later, a local group started looking for historic buildings in Wyoming. This led to many houses, the Wyoming Presbyterian Church, and a historic district being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Twin Oaks was one of the houses included in this group. It was listed on the Register a second time, even though it was never removed from the list.
