Historic Emmitt House

The Emmitt House was built in 1861 during the Civil War by James Emmitt, a banker and leading Southern Ohio entrepreneur, on a site positioned to benefit from trade on the Ohio Erie Canal along Emmitt Avenue (Rt. 23) across the street. Emmitt and a succession of financial partners operated a fleet of canal boats, a large distillery, flour and woolen mills, and numerous smaller manufacturing concerns. After it was finished, the Emmitt House quickly earned a reputation as one of the Scioto Valley’s finest hotels and became a center for hardware and dry goods salesmen, who opened their sample cases in a front room set aside as the Drummers Room. On January 6, 2014, the 152-year-old Emmitt House, listed on the National Register of Historical Places, was destroyed by fire as Waverly and area firefighters battled the blaze through the night in frigid wintry conditions.

Waverly, Ohio · United States