The Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board met earlier this month at the Ohio History Center at I-71 & 17th Ave. in Columbus.
At the meeting, the board recommended nine proposed Ohio nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, either individually or as part of a National Register Historic District. The latter group included a several-block area of downtown Mansfield, labeled the “Downtown Mansfield Historic District,” roughly bounded by Fifth Street to the north, Diamond Street to the east, Second Street to the south, and Mulberry Street to the west.
According to the announcement:
“The proposed historic district reflects Mansfield’s growth and development from the 1860s to 1968. Central Park, or the square, a focal point of the district, is a feature of the original plan of Mansfield, which was settled in 1808. Mansfield evolved from a rural county seat to an early railroad junction starting in the 1840s, then into a regional center of commerce and manufacturing from the late 19th century through the 1960s. Buildings in the proposed district date from the 1860s, when the former H.L. Reed Co. on the square was completed, to 1968, when the fifth Richland County Courthouse, also on the square, was finished in a style known as New Formalism, favored at the time for major public buildings like Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center. The historic district includes nearly 100 downtown buildings illustrating a variety of Victorian and later architectural styles, many by noted Mansfield architects such as Vernon Redding, Althouse & Jones and Thomas G. Zaugg.”
Other districts recommended for inclusion include the Ohio & Erie Canal Southern Descent Historic District in several locations in Fairfield, Franklin, Pickaway, and Scioto counties; and a large section of downtown Coshocton.
Nominations for each of the properties will now be forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register, who directs the program for the U.S. Department of the Interior. If the Keeper agrees that the properties meet the criteria for listing, they will be added to the National Register of Historic Places. Decisions from the Keeper on all nine nominations are expected in about 90 days.
Properties included in the National Register of Historic Places, including contributing buildings in National Register Historic Districts, are eligible for various financial incentives for renovation and restoration work. Federal projects involving adverse effects on such properties are also subject to heightened review.
Source: Ohio History Connection; Photo: Creative Commons License
