Oberlin in Lorain County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Wilson Bruce Evans House

Photographed by Craig Doda, October 24, 2026

1. Wilson Bruce Evans House Marker

Inscription.
The Wilson Bruce Evans House, 33 East Vine Street, is a rare example of a residence built and occupied by an African American abolitionist and Underground Railroad operative. Free-born in North Carolina, Wilson Bruce Evans (1824-1898) moved to Oberlin in 1854. A skilled cabinetmaker, he opened a carpentry shop with his brother, Henry (1817-1886). Together they completed the original house by 1856. At the center of Oberlin's interracial antislavery politics, Evans defied the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and was indicted for his part in the 1858 Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. During the Civil War, Evans enlisted in the predominantly white 178th O.V.I., serving August 1864-June 1865. The Wilson Bruce Evans House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and named a National Historic Landmark in 1997.

Wilson Bruce Evans and his wife, Sarah Jane Leary Evans (1829-1898), lived in Oberlin for over 40 years raising three children to adulthood: Cornelius (1855-1941), Julia (1859-1925), and Sarah Jane (1866-1928). Julia graduated from Oberlin College in 1880 and married James William Johnson, a music educator

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who studied in Oberlin 1875-1879. They taught in Ohio and Indiana. Sarah Jane graduated from Oberlin College in 1890 and married Thomas Sewell Inborden, a boarder with the family while he attended Oberlin. Together, they founded the Brick School in Enfield, North Carolina. When Cornelius died, the Inbordens' daughter, Dorothy Inborden Miller (1897-1996), inherited the Evans House. She worked to preserve and document its rich legacy. In 2021, descendants joined local historians to establish the Wilson Bruce Evans Home Historical Society.

Erected 2023 by William G. Pomeroy Foundation; Wilson Bruce Evans Home Historical Society; Ohio History Connection. (Marker Number 37-47.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Architecture • Industry & Commerce • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection, and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation series lists. A significant historical month for this entry is August 1864.

Location. 41° 17.322′ N, 82° 12.982′ W. Marker is in Oberlin, Ohio, in Lorain County. It is at the intersection

Photographed by Craig Doda, October 24, 2026

2. Wilson Bruce Evans House Marker

of East Vine Street and South Main Street, on the right when traveling east on East Vine Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 33 E Vine St, Oberlin OH 44074, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Cleveland,

on the Lake Erie Shore,

and in the Western Reserve.

It is also in the American Midwest.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Oberlin College and Community / Abolitionism in Oberlin (approx. 0.2 miles away); Welcome to Oberlin Heritage Center (approx. 0.2 miles away); Charles M. Hall and Frank M. Jewett (approx. 0.2 miles away); Downtown Oberlin Historic District (approx. 0.2 miles away); Peter Pindar Pease (approx. ¼ mile away); Willard Van Orman Quine (approx. 0.3 miles away); Memorial Arch (approx. 0.3

Photographed by Craig Doda, October 24, 2026

3. Wilson Bruce Evans House Marker

miles away); Massacred (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Oberlin.

Photographed by Craig Doda, October 24, 2026

4. Wilson Bruce Evans House Marker

Photographed by Craig Doda, October 24, 2026

5. Wilson Bruce Evans House Marker

Photographed by Craig Doda, October 24, 2026

6. Wilson Bruce Evans House Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on October 30, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 28, 2026, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 13 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on October 28, 2026, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.