73 Main Street

The house sits above the west side of Main Street on a shaded lot. A garage with German siding stands to the rear of the property.

Notable Features

19th-century facade dormer.
Original corbelled chimney.
20th-century single bay, open facade porch.

Historical or Architectural Importance

Like the Roberts-Smithson House to the south, the construction of the Hill-Spelman House took place in following the division of  Theophilus Morrison’s home lot. In December 1729, Daniel Hill bought the l 1/4 acre lot from Gideon Leet. Two years later, when Hill sold the property to Samuel Henmen, a “dwelling house” had been built (DLR 5:18).
Little historical information is available concerning Daniel Hill, although we know that Hill and his wife had several children by the time the house was built.
In 1734, the house was sold to Thomas Spelman. His father Richard Spelman, an English immigrant, settled in Middletown in the early years of the eighteenth century. Thomas
was responsible for the carved stones of the Old Burying Ground before John Johnson began his stone-cutting work in Durham.
Subsequently, the house changed hands many times. In the nineteenth century, it was owned by the Parsons and Hickox families.
Historically this house is significant for its association with Thomas Spelman, pioneer Durham stonecarver. Architecturally, it is a unique example of a structure combining a saltbox form with a gambrel roof.