Nicholas Schwab built the Stone Home at 2145 Queen City Avenue in 1849. He married Margaret (Langfritz) Schwab one year later and together they raised a large family there. The home has been in the family for seven generations, with many more to come!
Seven generations of the Schwab Family celebrating the 175th Anniversary of the Stone Home on May 18, 2024
Schwab Family Tree (highlighting the first 4 generations):
First generation of the Schwab family and select portions of the second through fourth generations
Stone Home Photos over the Years:
Stone Home, circa 1905. The photo was taken by Christine Margaret Schurr, the granddaughter of Nicholas Schwab. She received the camera for her 18th birthday.
Stone Home, circa 1907-1908
Stone Home in the winter, circa 1907-1908
Stone Home, circa 2021
Stone Home, 175th Anniversary of the Stone Home, May 2024
Living room of the Stone Home, May 2024
Chris Schaefer, great-great-grandson of Nicholas Schwab, standing with family photos inside the Stone Home, May 2024
Stairs to the attic, May 2024
The three "Rs" carved into the stone windowsill in the attic: for Richard, Ruth, and Raymond Gump, children of Christine Margaret (Schurr) (Shobert) Gump and Rudy Gump, May 2024
Maribeth Harvey: "It's very old, but it's a precious thing to our whole family. There's a stair from the dining room to the kitchen. It's an old log, and it's all worn down and smooth from our family stepping on it all these years."
Family Stories and Poems:
Outhouse with a Flush Toilet, as told by Chris Schaefer:
Met Him on a Sunday and Married Him on Thursday, as told by Maribeth (Schaefer) Harvey:
Recollections of the Gump Family, as told by Christy Schaefer:
Story of the Goat Adventure, as told by Frenly (Schaefer) Lister and Christy Schaefer:
Poems by Christine Margaret (Schurr) (Schobert) Gump:
Elisabeth (Schwab) Schurr and her husband John Schurr, with daughter Christine Margaret Schurr
Front row: Margaret Schwab (left front) with her daughter, Elisabeth (Schwab) Schurr (front right), her granddaughter, Christine Margaret (Schurr) Shobert (back), and greatgranddaughter, Christine Elisabeth Schobert (in her mother's arms). Photo taken in 1917. After Christine Shobert's husband died, she married Rudy Gump.
Christine Margaret (Schurr) (Shobert) Gump
Rudy Gump, Christine's husband, a Cincinnati fireman
Rudy Gump's mother, Rose, with her cow. The Gumps lived across the street at 2144 Queen City Avenue.
Collage of family photos, including Robert Gump's vegetable cart filled with children. Robert was Rudy's brother.
1973 Cincinnati Post article on Rudy Gump. Source: Cincinnati Post.
Saving the Family Home:
In the 1980s, the City of Cincinnati wanted to realign and add additional lanes to a portion of Queen City Avenue, west of the White Street. The initial plan for the new Queen City Bypass would have required demolition of the three stone buildings along Queen City Avenue.
Maribeth Harvey and her family fought to save the buildings and succeeded, earning a National Register of Historic Places designation for the structures in 1989. The Queen City Bypass was ultimately constructed but reimagined to leave the stone buildings in place.
Initial alignment for the Queen City Bypass would have required demolition of the Stone Home and adjacent stone buildings.
1988 Cincinnati Enquirer article about saving the buildings
1989 letter from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office confirming a National Register of Historic Places designation for all 3 stone structures.
