Giffin Stone House
In the 1700s the Giffin Stone House was carefully built of hand chiseled sand stone in western Belmont County, Ohio. During the 1800s it was used as a stage coach stop and traveler's Inn half way between Pittsburgh and Columbus. A pike stone road provided an all weather entry to and from the Giffin. In the mid 1900s this whole area was strip mined. Although the dwellers of Giffin had gone on years in advance, as a result of the mining, a federal reclaim drainage control dam was constructed below the Giffin. Over years sediment built up and caused the foundation to slip and fall over in the swampy area near the constructed lake. As the ground softened, little by little the walls moved and fell over. This photo was taken in 1994 when Dickinson Cattle Co first acquired the surrounding land. During the last 20 years most of the walls have continued to lean and fall. The pike road remains on the east side of the creek upstream of the stone house.
There was no mortar. The walls were double stone with sand between each stone. The craftsmanship was elegant and originally perfectly straight.
During July to September 2014 DCC has recovered these beautiful hand carved stones and moved them to higher ground less likely to be under water. If those who like history, and identify some clever way to place some of these historic stones into a decor which properly preserves them, give a call. They are heavy, have been recovered at a great cost of time and labor, but are each works of art, special one-of-a-kind. Will load on your truck at $300 per ton gate cut. Call 740 758 5050
Joel, Roger Moore and Kirk
A road was built from Giffin up to Muskrat Rd to transport a few stones at a time up a steep hill. The stone recovery site was a bee hive of activity during Summer 2014.
These are some of the standing walls. It was double stone with hand chiseled inside and out. This was a mansion during the 1700s. Probably designed with the idea of a fort for protection in the unsettled frontier.
This is Trent and Roger, two of the hard working stone movers. These guys have moved more tons of stone than some prisoners have busted in prison. Shortly after this photo Trent took a grocery sacking job at Walmart -- less stressing.
In August 2021 John Griffith, phone 515 451 0623 came to check out the site. He knew of this stone house where his ancestors lived over 150 years ago. Him and a relative were tracing their roots and also located grave stones at the Old Irish grave yard where Giffins were buried. Although the history was what it was, even the older people in the area back in 1993, when we first bought the land, knew very little about the history. Pieces of information came from seniors in Fairview and the general area for what little history could be gathered. Volumes of history was lost at the Stone House.
Although several have purchased the historical stones this one house was build using about a forth of the Giffin stone. To stretch out the beauty of the chiseling each stone was sliced in half to show the hand carved sides. It is hand craft stone-art lost never to return.
Call DCC, 740 758 5050 if you need beautiful historical stone.
