The Future of Ohio’s Historic Landmarks

A Shaker tavern. A wood-block-paved road. The first Black-owned bed and breakfast in Ohio.

These hidden gems, scattered throughout the Buckeye State among a host of other historic landmarks, serve as a testament to the state’s rich history and cultural significance. They’re also at risk of disappearing forever.

Join us on a virtual tour of nine treasures embedded across the expansive Ohio landscape. Along the way, we’ll also ask how best to approach preserving these sites as they careen toward an uncertain future.

This gallery features buildings and properties identified as among the most endangered in the state by Preservation Ohio in 2022, 2023 or both. Each of their unique histories and precarious futures shows us what is at stake in historic preservation efforts.

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Park Avenue West – Mansfield

Formerly named Market Street, Park Avenue West stretches across approximately eight blocks of the main street of the Richland County seat, Mansfield, Ohio. 

The length of road initially rose to prominence during the late nineteenth century, spurred by large industrial developments following the Civil War. From the construction of properties and office buildings to the development of railroads and a popular streetcar line, the area became an attractive place for folks to settle down.

This led to a building boom. The finest residences soon lined up the street, showcasing diverse architectural styles prevalent during that time period, including Italianate, Prairie and Neoclassical buildings.

The most common architectural genre found on Park Avenue West is the Queen Anne style. Characterized by its steep, sloping roofs, broad porches, conical towers and ornate columns, it is considered one of the more eclectic styles of Victorian-era architecture.

Park Avenue West serves as a lasting reflection of the evolving trends in architecture and fashion during the nineteenth century — a symbol of the era’s growth and diversity.

The activists who nominated the street as an endangered site note that these historic buildings are either disappearing or in disrepair. Intervention may be necessary to keep the collection of styles alive.

Struthers Hopewell Furnace – Struthers

In 1802, Daniel and James Eaton constructed Ohio’s first blast furnace  — the Struthers Hopewell Furnace — in Struthers, Mahoning County. 

Operational only from 1803 until 1808, this furnace used bituminous coal and charcoal to extract iron from ore and was capable of producing approximately two tons of iron daily. Historians argue that this was likely the first use of this kind of extraction using both bituminous coal and charcoal.

Situated in the woods, the Hopewell Furnace not only encouraged the establishment of the city around it but it also played a pivotal role as a catalyst for Ohio’s profitable entry into the iron and steel industry during the 1800s.

The site was inducted into the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, but activists are still concerned that not enough has been done to preserve the site and allow people to experience the history contained therein.

Erie Street Cemetery – Cleveland

Housing bodies since 1826, Erie Street Cemetery stands as Cleveland’s oldest existing burial ground. Over the years, it has expanded and acquired its distinctive features, including an iconic Gothic gateway arch crafted from sandstone, an iron fence and lush greenery.

It is renowned as the final resting place of notable Cleveland figures, including the first permanent settler of Cleveland Lorenzo Carter, Board of Trade of Cleveland founder Joseph Weatherly and Chief Joc-o-Sot of the Meskwaki tribe.

The cemetery is also home to honorable soldiers who served in conflicts like the Spanish-American War, Black Hawk War and American Civil War.

Altogether, Erie Street Cemetery hosts around 8,000 burials — marked by graves and monuments — that continue to pay tribute to the cherished lives lost in this historic city.

While the site is still in use, Cleveland preservationists highlight the need for upkeep on the grounds if these historic headstones are to remain intact for future generations to see.

Hessler Road and Hessler Court – Cleveland

While it might seem ordinary to the common eye, Hessler Road and the adjacent Hessler Court hold a special place in the hearts of both past and present Cleveland residents.

Installed by Emery Hessler in 1916 (or potentially earlier), Hessler Court stands out as the sole street in Cleveland with a distinctive wood block paving. Running perpendicular to the court, Hessler Road is paved with brick.

Initially intended for Hessler’s private use, the court’s distinctive look and feel, coupled with its proximity to employment areas in University Circle, attracted a growing coterie of the general public. 

Soon enough, affordable residences began to emerge along Hessler Road, eventually opening up public access to Cleveland’s one-of-a-kind street, especially to students at nearby Case Western Reserve University and University Circle workers.

The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, but now the Hessler Coalition is pushing back against what it considers to be “inappropriate” encroachment by city development on the historic block.

Most recently, in July 2024, the city began replacing the wood blocks on the road, preserving its unique character while ensuring its longevity.

Henderson House – Columbus

Columbus’ Henderson House was built sometime between 1856 and 1870 and is named after one of its two famous residents. In 1873, Rutherford B. Hayes bought the house before his presidency. While there is no evidence he lived in the house, Hayes’ family likely spent time on the property.

Hayes planned to expand the property, although his presidential election in 1876 paused these plans. In 1881, Hayes died, but fifteen years later, the addition was finished. Eventually, Leonard Pearl Henderson, who would become the house’s namesake, bought the property for himself and his family in 1942.

Henderson was a notable Black lawyer in Columbus, having graduated from The Ohio State University’s College of Law just four years after the first-ever Black graduate to do so. When he died in 1977, Henderson was the oldest working Black attorney in the city.

In 1987, Henderson’s daughter LeNora “Lee” Johnson inherited the house, which she opened as the first Black-owned bed and breakfast in Ohio in 1995. This business operated until 2017, when Johnson sold the land to Blueprint Community Development LLC, which then sold it to OSU in 2021. Until May 2023, OSU had planned to raze the house and build a new therapy center on the lot, but local outcry led the university to choose a new location in order to preserve the historic house.

I.O.O.F. Building/Old Miami County Courthouse – Troy

This building in Troy, Ohio, has been deemed “controversial” by Dayton-area news media, as the building’s owner says it needs to be demolished. Activists disagree, however, saying that more needs to be done to protect and preserve the building, which has two distinct parts.

In the 1840s, the first section of the building was built as the Miami County Courthouse, significant for the role it played in allowing formerly enslaved people to register under the then-active laws around freedmen living in Ohio. In particular, the courthouse served the “Randolph Slaves,” a group of formerly enslaved people freed by plantation owner John Randolph at his death in 1833. Randolph provided money and an executor to relocate them to their own lands.

The chosen destination in Minster, Ohio, proved too hostile toward Black people to allow them to stay, so they were separated into several communities across Ohio. A contingent of them ended up in Troy, where they registered for their freedom at this very courthouse. In fact, the Troy Historic Preservation Alliance claims that Randolph’s emancipation is believed to be the biggest in U.S. history prior to the Emancipation Proclamation.

The second part of the building, erected in 1902, became the headquarters for a local chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. This was a men’s social organization akin to the Freemasons. Rutherford B. Hayes, Wiliam McKinley, Warren Harding and Ulysses S. Grant were among the organization’s members, as were Ohio State House architect Nathan Kelley and first American female dentist Lucy Hobbs Taylor.

The owners of the building have attempted to demolish it as recently as March 2023, citing safety concerns, but the city stopped the demolition after local preservationists spoke out against it.

Greentree Tavern – Lebanon/Turtlecreek

One of the oldest currently endangered buildings in the state is Greentree Tavern, built in 1813 by Lebanon, Ohio, founder Ichabod Corwin. The building, which is actually located just outside Lebanon in Turtle Creek, operated as a tavern and waypoint for local members of the Christian sect the Shakers traveling between Lebanon and Springboro in the nineteenth century.

The neighborhood around the tavern was named “Morristown” after its founder in 1816, but is now called “Greentree Corners” after the tavern. Although it is unclear exactly when, the tavern became a private residence at some point before 1969. It was last sold in 2019, and its fate remains uncertain.

Ohmer Garage – Dayton

The Ohmer Garage in Dayton, Ohio, is one of the more unusual stops on our tour. The building is distinguished by its ornamental Classical architecture, including terra cotta tiles and a decorative parapet reading “Ohmer” — odd features for a parking garage.

Successful businessman Michael Ohmer was an influential figure in Dayton’s early days, beginning with a furniture store at this location, now next to the Victoria Theatre. After the business moved to a larger location and Ohmer’s sons took over, one son, John F. Ohmer, built a parking garage on the location of the original furniture store, along with retail spaces available to rent on the ground floor.

The retail spaces are empty, and the parking garage appears to have closed permanently sometime in 2015 or 2016, based on Google Streetview documentation. The building has been boarded up to prevent debris from the ornate facade from falling on passersby. The organization Dayton Architecture has pushed to save the building, suggesting that it could be turned back into retail space or a new housing development.

Dwight L. Barnes School – Kettering

This former school building has recently entered the local spotlight because while the Kettering School Board wants to demolish it, Preservation Ohio says it remains structurally sound. Opened in 1930, this building first housed Fairmont High School, before later becoming a junior high school and an administrative office for the school district.

In 2019, the school left the building empty as they moved their offices, and it has since sat unused. The school district claims that the Dwight L. Barnes building would be too expensive to rehabilitate to be “warm, safe and dry.” Activists, on the other hand, have emphasized the significance of the building as a Kettering landmark and an example of a sturdy architectural style that is becoming more and more uncommon.

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Today, these once-admired landmarks sit as shells of their former glory.

The residences along Park Avenue West are now engulfed in ivy, adorned with debris and marred by weathered cracks. The Struthers Hopewell Furnace, once operational, stands idle, slowly succumbing to nature. The headstones of Erie Cemetery now show more erosion than craft. And the craftwork that went into the Ohmer Garage is still crumbling (even though it’s no longer falling on passersby).

The current condition of these and other Ohio landmarks has drawn attention to their endangered status, prompting the concern of preservationists. 

A question, however, persists: How should these landmarks be preserved?

Stephanie Ryberg-Webster, an urban studies professor at Cleveland State University, said there are two main preservation methods commonly found in the industry: restoration and rehabilitation, sometimes known as adaptive reuse. Restoration refers to returning landmarks to their original state. Rehabilitation, meanwhile, involves both maintaining their historic sections and making them compatible with new components, sometimes for entirely new purposes.

Among Ryberg-Webster’s recent projects is an examination of historic preservation moments in the Midwest, a region facing preservation challenges similar to other states but receiving less attention.

“Rehabilitation is the most common,” Ryberg-Webster said, “[because it] provides more flexibility. So, it’s more common in practice in the modern world and in cities, particularly in the Midwest. A lot of historic preservation is happening to, let’s say, take older apartment buildings and fix them up so that they can continue to be used as apartment buildings, or to take an old warehouse building, and — what we call adaptive reuse — convert it into a new use.”

But the tension between preserving built, historic landmarks and natural environments presents complications. That’s the case with a site like the Struthers Hopewell Furnace.

“The strategies can be a little different, though, when you’re talking about historic landscapes versus buildings. Things naturally change in the natural environment. So like, you can’t freeze trees and time, they will continue to grow and die, and all of the things that natural things do. And so, the approaches to managing a historic landscape have to be at least somewhat — in the details — a little bit different,” Ryberg-Webster said. “You can’t necessarily return a natural landscape to what it was at a specific point in time in the past.”

The complexities presented by each site mean that it’s often local residents that are advocating for the preservation of their landmarks. Preservation Ohio’s list of the most endangered sites in the state was populated by local organizations and activists nominating sites in their area.

Dr. Ryberg-Webster stressed the importance of these preservation endeavors.

“We can talk about architecture or economic value or all of these things, but the idea that places mean things to people — it sounds a little more touchy-feely — but it’s actually really important,” she said.

Explore Preservation Ohio’s 2024 list to keep an eye on the historic buildings and sites near you.