Sitting on top of a hill in a historic Cincinnati neighborhood is a piece of history that represents the influence one woman had over the movement to end slavery in the United States.

With white stately columns, a front porch that stretches the entire span of the house and historic interior features, the house that “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” author Harriet Beecher Stowe called home is a popular destination spot in southwestern Ohio.

Operated as a historical and cultural site, the Stowe House takes a look into the family, friends and colleagues of the Beecher-Stowe family, as well as the abolitionist, women’s rights and Underground Railroad movements.

The Ohio Historical Society recently received a grant to give the house, founded in 1832, the renovations it needs.

“We’re correcting some structural problems with the front porch and making some renovations to the kitchen area to make it a better serving kitchen for events,” said George Kane, director of historic sites at the Ohio Historical Society. “We’re also fixing some non-glamorous plumbing problems and looking to provide better handicapped-accessible facilities.”

The Beecher-Stowe family members called the Walnut Hills neighborhood property their home in the 1830s. Now, the Ohio Historical Society calls it one of its most prized possessions for both the community and U.S. history.

“The community identifies it as a landmark in their neighborhood,” Kane said. “It has community gatherings on the second floor of the house that allows people to bring in different exhibits that represent the community.”

All while preserving the last 200 years of its history, he says. Though remnants of its early days remain in the house, it underwent a restoration process in the early 1900s before the historical society acquired the property in 1946. The historical society decided to keep the look of the house, which shows how one homestead has influenced several generations and vice versa.

“The house itself has not really been restored like your typical house museum,” Kane said. “It substantially changed around the turn of the century. It’s never been restored to look like how it did when the Beechers lived there.”

Walking through the house past black and white photographs, vintage pieces of furniture and antique treasures that detail Beecher’s role in the anti-slavery movement, it is difficult to forget the influential time period and the role she played.

Visitors to the Stowe house, therefore, won’t want to miss the Rankin House, an important stop on the Underground Railroad that ran through southern Ohio.

One of the home’s original owners, John Rankin, was a Presbyterian minister and educator who published an antislavery book called “Letters on American Slavery.”

The home, located in Ripley, Ohio, features a portrait of Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was influenced by Rankin’s writings.

“I think one of the things that is vital to the story is Beecher’s relationship to Rankin,” said Kim Schuette, communications and media relations manager at the Ohio Historical Society. “The character Eliza (in ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’) was based off a female slave escaping across a half-frozen Ohio River.”

The Rankins housed that woman in 1838, after she made a daring escape with her child in her arms.

“If visitors go to the Stowe House, they should go to Ripley to visit the Rankin House as well,” Schuette said.

Other popular destinations include the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Spring Grove Cemetery, which features the final resting place of 40 Civil War generals and politicians.

Currently, the historical society and the Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House are working on an interpretive plan they hope to have completed by this time next year. The plan would outline how the site is used to keep the history of the Stowe family alive.

“Our plan is to have an introductory exhibit about Harriet Beecher Stowe in the house, and the Beechers as well, done in time for the bicentennial of her birth in 2011,” Kane said.

A group of Ohio state legislators also may soon honor Stowe, as she is one of 10 nominees to replace a statue of William Allen, a former member of Congress and Ohio governor who advocated pro-slavery views. The statue is located at the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.

To find out more information about how to vote for Stowe, go to www.legacyforohio.org. Harriet Beecher Stowe House is located at 2950 Gilbert Avenue in  
Cincinnati, OH 45206. For more information, call 513-751-0651 or visit www.ohiohistory.org/places/stowe. The Stowe House is open from 10 to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Private tours and rentals are available. Admission is free, though donations are appreciated.