SitemapIn less than an hour, more than 200 years of Mahoning Valley history had come full circle.
Descendants of some of the earliest pioneers to settle in Youngstown and Mahoning County were on hand Friday to honor a homestead that is today recognized as the oldest continuously inhabited house in the city.
“For everyone who has done this – thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” said James McCollum, a descendant of both Joshua Kyle, who moved from Westmoreland, Pennsylvania and built the house at 1458 McCollum Road during the early 19th century, and John McCollum, the first settler in Austintown, whose son would eventually live in that same dwelling.
Public officials, educators, family members, and neighbors gathered at the end of McCollum Road in front of the Kyle-McCullom house on the city’s West Side to celebrate the unveiling of a historical marker sponsored by the Ohio History Connection. The marker, located near the base of the property’s long gravel driveway, explains the historical significance of the landmark house – a Federal style structure on nearly five acres bordering Mill Creek Park that was completed in 1813.
It is thought to be the oldest continuously occupied house still standing at its original location in the city, a designation uncovered by students and educators from the Youngstown Underground Railroad Research Team.
“He started building the house in 1796,” McCollum, now a resident of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, said of Joshua Kyle, his great-great-great maternal grandfather. To read the full story from the Business Journal, click here.