the son of pioneer educator John Reily, who started Cincinnati's earliest school in 1790 after military service during the American Revolution. Young Reily went into business at a comparatively young age, finding employment at a store that sold imported textiles; he began as a clerk, but he eventually rose to become the owner before selling the business and retiring in 1859, aged less than forty years. Reily had the present house built in 1854 on a hilltop above the valley of Mill Creek. The grandest of the old houses in the Wyoming Hills area, it was constructed to be comparable to the Gothic Revival houses that wealthy men were building in Cincinnati at the time. In the early 1860s, when local residents decided to organize their small community and give it a name, Twin Oaks was chosen as the meeting place. Those present were initially unable to agree on a name, but Reily's support for "Wyoming" won over the other men, and when the village was incorporated, he was chosen as the first mayor. Only for a short time did he occupy this position; the Civil War was being fought, and before long Reily entered military service. As lieutenant colonel of the 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he was killed at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Historic site In 1975, Twin Oaks was listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it qualified both because of its historically significant architecture and because of its connection to Robert Reily. Four years later, a local historic preservation group began a citywide survey to identify Wyoming's historic buildings, and this effort culminated with a multiple property submission of eighteen houses, the Wyoming Presbyterian Church, and one historic district to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Twin Oaks was one of the houses included in this group; it was listed on the Register for a second time, even though it had never been removed. References Houses completed in 1854 Houses in Wyoming, Ohio Gothic Revival architecture in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Hamilton County, Ohio Queen Anne architecture in Ohio