Hobson-Hill House

Jesse Hobson was born in 1812 in North Carolina. After marrying Catherine Daugherty, they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After crossing the plains in 1852 and the death of Catherin in 1859, Jesse Hobson and family, along with his new wife Nancy Simpson Henderson, moved to Richmond. Jesse owned the property that the Hobson-Hill home now resides for many years until 1897 when an administrative deed was granted to William H. Hill Jr. William Henry Hill Jr. was born in Smithfield, Utah in 1865, the son of William Henry Hill Sr. and Isabella Wells. William Hill owned the home for only six months before selling it to Louis Edgar Merrill.

The exact date of the home's construction is unknown, but it is assumed to have been constructed by Alma Hobson, son of Jesse. Alma owned the property from 1875-1877 before giving the property back to his father where Jesse then deeded the property to William Hill. A single tax assessment dates the home's construction to 1894, some other records state its construction in 1883. 

As previously mentioned, L. Edgar and his wife Clara Hendricks Merrill began ownership of the home in 1897. They took out three mortgages to build the north wing between 1902 - 1913. They later sold the home in 1921 to George Edmund Bair and Maud Theresa Hill, the sister to William H. Hill Jr. After their deaths in 1931 and 1945, the home was deeded to their oldest son, Glendon G. Bair and his wife Luella Jane Dowdle. After Glendon's death in 1969, the home was sold to Donald Wayne and Kaye J. Bell in 1971. They then sold the home in 1973 to the current owners.

In 2004, the Hobson-Hill Home was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its "events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history," and the "property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction." Areas of significance are architecture, social history, and agriculture/subsistence.

United States Department of the Interior. National Register of Historic Places (2004, July 15). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hobson-Hill Home (Korral Broschinsky). National Archive Catalog. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71999252