Digging a bit in Price Hill

My friends at Cincinnati Preservation Association posted some pictures a few weeks back of some beautiful houses in Price Hill on Purcell Avenue. One in particular caught my attention when CPA asked if anyone the house's history since it appeared to be the oldest on the block. Well, that is all the temptation I needed! I had to dig...

Here is the house, picture courtesy of the Hamilton County Auditor website:

This photo doesn't show it's true beauty. It has since been updated and painted.

See Cincinnati Preservation's Facebook page for a more current photo

So off I went digging and it looks like it was part of John Striker’s property in 1869.

1869 Map of Storrs Township

I found a reference of John Striker, Sr. living at the southwest corner of Price and Purcell in 1890. He was a farmer/gardener. His son, John P. Stryker (he changed the spelling of the last name at some point) was an architect and I found a few references of him using Google Books.

Stryker, John P. 
            Listed 1894-1929. According to a description of Stryker and his home on Considine Avenue (1895) in Price Hill, the Strykers (originally spelt Stroeker) were early settlers of that area in the western hills of Cincinnati overlooking the Ohio River, where J.P. Stryker designed other residences, as well as the St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church School.
http://www.architecturecincy.org/dictionary/S.html

Here are a few links that reference John Stryker, Jr. and the homes he designed for his neighborhood of Price Hill:
Carpentry and Building, March 1898 - Colonial Residence in Cincinnati, Ohio

Carpentry and Building, March 1901 - Brick Residence in a Cincinnati Suburb

Carpentry and Building, July 1902 - A Frame and Stone Cottage at Cincinnati

Photograph of John Stryker, Jr from Price Hill book

The home that appears to be the oldest on the block looks to really have been built as a two family residence.

Here it is on a 1891 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map

 And again in 1904

I really enjoyed "digging" this one up and finding out that the Striker family stayed in Price Hill for so long and that John Stryker, Jr. contributed to the beauty of this street and neighborhood by designing houses for the land he was raised upon.