Remarkable Ohio

Results for: historic-building
1004 Chapel Street
Cincinnati

, OH

Walnut Hills has been home to a significant middle- and working-class Black community since the 1850s. In 1931, African American entrepreneur Horace Sudduth bought 1004 Chapel Street and then the row of buildings across Monfort, naming them the Manse Hotel and Annex. Throughout the 1940s, hotel dinner parties could move to the Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs house next door for dancing. A large addition to the Manse in 1950 created its own ballroom, 24-hour coffee shop, upgraded Sweetbriar Restaurant, and more guest rooms. It appeared in the Negro Motorist’s Green Book between 1940-1963, providing local, transient, and residential guests both catered meetings and top entertainment during the last decades of segregation. It closed in the late 1960s when the economic need for a first-class segregated hotel disappeared in the age of Black Power.

5 S. Mechanic Street (OH 60)
Hayesville

, OH

This building was a center of community life from the time of its construction in 1886 to the late 1930s. Once common, such combinations of governmental offices and commercial and entertainment space are today rare. The second floor opera house retains many original features, including stage backdrops, dressing rooms, and seats. Vaudeville, theater companies, and entertainment of all kinds were hosted here and many performers signed the backstage walls: Buffalo Bill dated his signature October 28, 1888. Along with village offices, first floor tenants have included the Vermillion Township Trustees, the Eddie Stover Hat Shop, and the F.L. Smith Watch Repair and Jewelry Store. Hayesville’s citizens approved the hall’s construction on April 18, 1884 by a vote of 100 to 13. Contractor Samuel Craig completed the building two years later at a cost of $4,852.20. Located on the Lincoln Highway, this building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Lincoln Park Train Exhibit on E. Elm Street
Lima

, OH

One of America’s largest and best known steam locomotive builders, the Lima Locomotive Works built 7,752 locomotives between 1879 and 1951. It rose to success building the patented Shay geared locomotive, an innovative design that became the standard for railroad logging. In the early 20th century Lima began building mainline locomotives, exemplified by the “Super-Power” 2-8-4 Berkshire, which used superheated steam and an enlarged firebox for unprecedented power and speed. Introduced in 1925, it showcased Lima’s technological prowess. The “loco works” employed workers of many nationalities, fostering a legacy of ethnic diversity in Lima. Often several generations of the same family worked in the same shop, a practice that encouraged loyalty and a tradition of craftsmanship passed to succeeding generations.

129 Main Street
Chardon

, OH

Chardon was designated the county seat of Geauga County in 1808. On July 25, 1868, the entire village business district (now Main Street) was destroyed by fire, including forty businesses, offices, meeting halls, and the 1824 courthouse. Citizens immediately rallied and formed the Chardon Building Company. In August 1868 they contracted with Herrick and Simmons of Cleveland to build the Union Block using fire-resistant brick. This was one of Rensselaer R. Herrick’s (Cleveland Mayor 1879-1882) last construction jobs. The Union Block occupies the northern half of this block of Main Street. (Continued on other side)

115 N. Williams Street
Paulding

, OH

Named for John Paulding, a Revolutionary War soldier whose capture of a British spy implicated Benedict Arnold in treason, Paulding County was formed in 1820 from the last remaining unorganized area of Ohio. Sparsely settled, it remained under the jurisdiction of Wood County until 1824 and then Williams County until 1839. Paulding’s first county seat was established at New Rochester in 1839, then moved to Charloe in 1841. Neither village exists today. Centrally-located Paulding Center became the county seat in 1851, and a courthouse was built the following year. The present courthouse, built during the region’s timber boom of the late 19th century, was designed by architect Edward Oscar Fallis and patterned after his Lenawee County courthouse in Adrian, Michigan. The four-faced Romanesque style building was completed in 1888 at a cost of $40,000. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

100 Public Square
Somerset

, OH

The Sheridan monument was erected by and given to the Village of Somerset by the State of Ohio in 1905 to honor the memory of Somerset’s General Phillip Henry Sheridan. “Little Phil” was raised in Somerset and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1852. He rendered valuable service to the Federal Army in the Civil War at Stone’s River, Missionary Ridge, Yellow Tavern, Winchester, Cedar Creek, Five Forks, and Appomattox. He later commanded in the West and became General of the Army in 1883, received his fourth star, and died in 1888. The heroic sculpture, created by Carl Heber of New York, portrays “Sheridan’s Ride” to Winchester. Somerset citizens paid for the granite base through a children’s “penny fund.”

Constitution Park-Just N of Intersection of OH 725 and US 42
Spring Valley

, OH

In 1779 John Bowman’s forces followed the east bank to Glady Run, then north to the Indian village of Old Chillicothe. In 1780 and 1782 militia commanded by George Rogers Clark, and guided by Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone, crossed the river and camped two miles north of Caesar’s Creek, then marched on the villages near Springfield, Piqua, and Bellefontaine.