Thomas Rhea
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2. West side Hamilton location proposed as site of college: College Hill would have been on the west side of Hamilton if Thomas Rhea and other community leaders would have had their way in the early 1850s. Not clear is if it would have been a coed college or higher education only accessible to females.
The idea evolved when directors of the Hamilton & Rossville Female Academy -- located in Hamilton -- considered relocating or closing. They favored the former and welcomed suggestions for a site.
"Thomas Rhea wished to secure the college for his farm," according to Mrs. Alta Harvey Heiser in her 1941 book, Hamilton in the Making. "His offer of four acres at the top of North Third Street [in Rossville] was accepted." North Third became North D Street after the merger of Hamilton and Rossville in 1855.
In anticipation of the college becoming a reality, some residents called the hilltop "College Hill." Later, it became Rheadon -- including the name of the Rhea family that once owned the land.
Mrs. Heiser said the college proposal faded with the death of John Woods in 1855. She identifies Woods -- a vigorous leader in numerous community projects -- as the founder of the female academy, one of its directors until he died and "chairman for plans and arrangements for a new college."
The Hamilton & Rossville Female Academy had been incorporated in 1835, and occupied a building at the corner of Water and Stable streets (later renamed Monument Avenue and Market Street). According to Mrs. Heiser, the school closed in 1854, a year before the merger of Hamilton and Rossville was effective.
During the early 1870s the structure housed a machine shop. It was acquired by the city in 1875 and was Hamilton’s City Hall into the late 1920s. Police headquarters and the municipal court remained there until completion of the 1935 Municipal Building at 20 High Street.
The Female Academy’s demise, according to the 1882 Butler County history, was related to its location. The southern end of the Hamilton Hydraulic was along Market Street, which was on the north side of the academy. A few yards to the west, the water plunged from the hydraulic into the Great Miami River. Mrs. Heiser wrote that "the hydraulic was spanned [at that location] by a footbridge. By jumping on it, the children could make the planks almost touch the water. This was why, as early as 1845, some considered the Academy location too dangerous."
2. West side Hamilton location proposed as site of college: College Hill would have been on the west side of Hamilton if Thomas Rhea and other community leaders would have had their way in the early 1850s. Not clear is if it would have been a coed college or higher education only accessible to females.
The idea evolved when directors of the Hamilton & Rossville Female Academy -- located in Hamilton -- considered relocating or closing. They favored the former and welcomed suggestions for a site.
"Thomas Rhea wished to secure the college for his farm," according to Mrs. Alta Harvey Heiser in her 1941 book, Hamilton in the Making. "His offer of four acres at the top of North Third Street [in Rossville] was accepted." North Third became North D Street after the merger of Hamilton and Rossville in 1855.
In anticipation of the college becoming a reality, some residents called the hilltop "College Hill." Later, it became Rheadon -- including the name of the Rhea family that once owned the land.
Mrs. Heiser said the college proposal faded with the death of John Woods in 1855. She identifies Woods -- a vigorous leader in numerous community projects -- as the founder of the female academy, one of its directors until he died and "chairman for plans and arrangements for a new college."
The Hamilton & Rossville Female Academy had been incorporated in 1835, and occupied a building at the corner of Water and Stable streets (later renamed Monument Avenue and Market Street). According to Mrs. Heiser, the school closed in 1854, a year before the merger of Hamilton and Rossville was effective.
During the early 1870s the structure housed a machine shop. It was acquired by the city in 1875 and was Hamilton’s City Hall into the late 1920s. Police headquarters and the municipal court remained there until completion of the 1935 Municipal Building at 20 High Street.
The Female Academy’s demise, according to the 1882 Butler County history, was related to its location. The southern end of the Hamilton Hydraulic was along Market Street, which was on the north side of the academy. A few yards to the west, the water plunged from the hydraulic into the Great Miami River. Mrs. Heiser wrote that "the hydraulic was spanned [at that location] by a footbridge. By jumping on it, the children could make the planks almost touch the water. This was why, as early as 1845, some considered the Academy location too dangerous."