Charles Martin Hall House
Exterior of Charles Martin Hall House.
Photo credit: Kevin Reeves
Charles Martin Hall House was built in 1853 and purchased in 1873 by Rev. Heman Hall, father of Charles Martin Hall, when the family moved to Oberlin. The Hall family lived in this house until 1901. Charles, Class of 1885, was working in the woodshed located behind the family home when he discovered an inexpensive and effective electrolytic method for producing aluminum. The woodshed was demolished in the 1920s. The college installed a plaque in 1928 to honor the work of Hall, who earned a U.S. patent and later founded what became ALCOA, the Aluminum Company of America.
The house is owned by the college and is not open to the public.