Cowgill-DeHart House

86 Walnut Street

Built: c. 1875-80

Style: Italianate

Carey and Nancy Cowgill occupied this home from 1911 until 1917. Mr.Cowgill, a Civil War veteran, was an attorney who served as the first president of the Cincinnati Wabash and Michigan Railroad. Mrs. Cowgill served as the first and only president of the Women's Library Association. She wrote to Andrew Carnegie and helped persuade him to finance construction of the Carnegie Public Library. During the 1970s, Paul DeHart and his wife Cleta owned the home.

This structure is easily identified as Italianate with its hipped roof, projecting cornice, decorative brackets, and tall, narrow windows capped by decorative wooden hoods. The entry, enframed by Tuscan columns supporting an entablature and pediment, is an interesting element, along with the similarly detailed, enclosed porch adjoining the façade to the east. Both entry and porch were probably added after 1900.