The Thompson House, Circa 1840, was built by Johnathan and Priscilla Thompson, some of the earliest settlers of what is now North Olmsted.  The Thompsons were involved with almost everything in the early township days and their children were married to many of the other well-known families (John Carpenter, Vespacian and Elliott Stearns were all married to daughters of the Thompson family).  Priscilla Sears (directly descended from William Brewster who arrived on the Mayflower) was a strong and colorful character.  Some of her antics were chronicled in the Clara Snow letters given to some of our older members.

 

The house consists of two wings, the smaller one-story section, which is believed to be the oldest part of the house, and the two- story wing which was added within a few decades.  The style is referred to as Vernacular with some simple Greek Revival elements. The basement and foundation are built from large, quarried sandstone block and the framing is a mix of rough- milled lumber and timbers.

 

The house sat on Butternut Ridge Road on property which was purchased by the North Olmsted School District to build a new Middle/High School complex.  The move was endorsed by the City of North Olmsted, the Cleveland Metroparks as well as the Olmsted Historical Society, whose volunteers will be doing the rebuilding/restoration work.

 

The rescue and restoration of the house also has the endorsement of the North Olmsted Schools, which committed $10,000.00 to help with the project.  Additional donations by several anonymous donors have totaled $21,000.00

 

Olmsted Historical Society leaders plan on using the Thompson house to display military items.  The society has a massive collection of items from as far back as the War of 1812.  Other parts of the house will store the Societys' archives, which contain the history of many of the areas families and artifacts from several nearby communities.

 

Over a period of fifty years, the society has a proud track record of moving and preserving 4 previous houses and the iconic Frostville Village Church.