Sion Hill

Sion Hill is a National Historic Landmark in Havre de Grace, Maryland, notable as an example of high-style Federal architecture and as the home of a family of prominent officers of the United States Navy.

John Ireland bought the unimproved property above Havre de Grace in 1787 and began construction on the Sion Hill Seminary, intended as a boys' school.

Denison was apparently a real estate speculator, believing that Havre de Grace would expand significantly, and accumulated 1,820 acres (7.4 km2) around the house.

Minerva survived until 1877, but gave Sion Hill and 1,800 acres (7.3 km2) of surrounding land to her oldest son, Robert Smith Rodgers (1809-1891).

He landed in a field about 200 yards from the house where his father, Rear Admiral John Rodgers, his mother Elizabeth, and brother Robert greeted him.

His intention was to leave the next day for New York where his cousin Calbraith Perry Rodgers was to depart Sheepshead Bay for San Francisco at 3 pm that afternoon to compete for the $50,000 Hearst Prize.

[6] Sion Hill is a brick three-part house with a five-bay 2+1⁄2-story central block flanked by one-bay shed-roofed wings.

The summer and winter dining rooms, of equal size, lie to the east, with two parlors and the main stairs to the west.

Interior view of Sion Hill, Havre de Grace, MD