This three-family dwelling was the first permanent home of famed Underground Railroad conductor Rev. John Rankin. Rev. Rankin, his wife Jean, and their young family settled in Ripley, Ohio, in 1822 when he accepted the call to become minister of Ripley Presbyterian Church and began construction of this brick dwelling circa 1823. The Rankins lived here until 1829, when the brick home on Liberty Hill was completed. While living in this house on Front Street, Rev. Rankin wrote his famous letters on American slavery in response to his Virginia brother’s purchase of a slave.