John Damp, proprietor of the Ashland City Mills from 1865
to 1892, purchased this home on the corner of Center Street and East
Liberty Street (then called Pine Street) in 1872 at a cost of $2,300. It
had probably been built a few years earlier by James and Sarah
Mason, the previous owners of the property. Damp’s wife was the
former Fanny Palmer of Cuyahoga Falls. There were two children
Annabel and Albert.
The Damp home, like the others on the street, was fenced in
and the gates kept shut to keep the cattle from coming in when they
were being driven along the street to pasture. The iron fences also
offered a form of amusement for the children who walked on the brick or board sidewalks and ran sticks along the pickets.
An Ashland Press social note of June 10, 1880 stated “The annual social of the Presbyterian church will be give at the Center Street residence of John Damp Thursday evening. The ladies will meet at four o’clock in the afternoon to transact the business of the society, which will include the election of officers. Supper will be served and the social of the evening made pleasant in women’s ways. All are cordially invited.”
Following the sale of the mill, the Damp family moved to Elizabeth, Tennessee, where he ran a mill for five years. In 1913 Damp died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Annabel Damp Young, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His son was living in Tiffin at the time.
Judge and Mrs. Frank Patterson purchased the property in 1896 for $2,600. Following his death in 1926, his widow, Mary, and daughter, Ada remained in the home for several years.
During the 1950s, when Dr. C.B. Meuser was county health commissioner for the Ashland City/County Health Department, the home at 531 Center Street was the headquarters. Since that time, it has been converted into apartments and back into a single family dwelling. The current owners are Bruce and Karen Kramer.