Decorative drawing: a civic town hall with a clock tower and a portico. Not a photograph of this place.

Nomination for North Olmsted Town Hall

The case file that argued this property on to the National Register: 2,228 words across 22 pages, filed in 1980. Read by 4 independent recognisers, of which at least 3 had to agree before a line was published.

Source document Held by the National Archives in Record Group 79 as reference 80002984, where it exists only as a scan with no text layer. The words below were read off that scan by 4 independent recognisers at two resolutions. Only lines that at least 3 of them returned identically appear below; where they disagreed, the line is withheld rather than guessed, so some of the form's furniture is missing. Spelling is never corrected, so a stray character that all the readers agreed on is the recogniser's and the typewriter's.. Nothing is summarised, corrected or written by this site. See the catalogue record, or return to the property.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

received CT 1 4 1980 See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms 1. Name and/or common street & number - not for publication city, town . vicinity of _ state - district - public - unoccupied - agriculture _ museum * building(s) - private _ commercial - park _ structure _both _ work in progress _ educational - private residence - site - entertainment - object _ in process - yes: unrestricted - government . scientific _ being considered .transportation . military _ other: 4. Owner of Property City of North Olmsted 5. Location of Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. has this property been determined elegible?
- - yes _ federal _ local depository for survey records 035 039 Location Category Accessible date county code Cleveland Cuyahoga historic religious Status Ohio industrial Ownership Cuyahoga County Administration Building date entered Inventory-Nomination Form Dover Center Road Public Acquisition Present Use Type all entries-complete applicable sections Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service 6. Representation in Existing Surveys 3. Classification National Register of Historic Places North Olmsted North Olmsted Town Hall United States Department of the Interior 1219 Ontario FHR8-300 (11-78) For HCRS use only title NOV25190 7. Description _ excellent X altered _ moved ample ground-level windows. The masonry load-bearing walls are composition shingles.
A pedimented entrance vestibule projects from Condition ruins fair unexposed above.The original wrought-iron railings on the steps have been The interior room arrangements have been only slightly altered. and finial.The entrance has double doors with a semi-circular tympanum The basement vault remains in its original position;the jail cells Check one This is a one-story rectangular masonry building in the Colonial Revival of the building is excellent, and its structural integrity conveys replaced with masonry cheek walls.
The hipped roof is constructed of trussed rafters and covered with with no major alterations to the structure.The basic condition have been removed.The main floor is basically a single room designed as a public hall.Three rooms have been partitioned off style measuring 35 feet by 60 feet.It stands on a high basement with - unaltered - original site date deteriorated the period of its historic significance. constructed of precast masonry units faced with brick in English bond. Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance the east end. It is capped with a small louvered cupola with a dome goody 8. Significance - prehistoric -archeology-historic _ conservation _ economics - sculpture _education - social/ - engineering - music X 1900 - industry * politics/government _ invention .other (specify) Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

(in one paragraph) in the basement level, and included a council chamber, mayor and clerk's office, a vault, the jail, and a general office for all other functions. The main floor was used as a community hall, where and dances were held. In 1931, the interurban railway service to Cleveland was abandoned. Charles A. Seltzer, a prolific author of Western fiction, proposed the William Ganson Rose, "North Olmsted established a precedent for Thus, although the event of primary significance took place in 1931, 1600-1699 1400-1499 1500-1599 1700-1799 1800-1899 communications transportation art commerce architecture theater Period literature humanitarian science agriculture the nation when it organized The North Olmsted Municipal Bus Line. initiative is inconceivable. each year. law municipally owned bus service in the nation.
later, when the provision of public transportation entirely by private The North Olmsted Town Hall has been the seat of village government school plays, grange meetings, choir performances, graduations, North Olmsted was incorporated in 1908 from portions of two townships, of an age when the provision of public transport by a public agency significant, the Town Hall was the site of the formation of the first was revolutionary.This contrasts with the attitudes of fifty years ution to advertise for bids for municipal buses in February,1931.
Olmsted and Dover.It was basically a rural farming community.No bus line was sanctioned by the Ohio Supreme Court.According to The architect was W.R.Powell.The village offices were located the action which was taken in this Town Hall illuminates the attitudes Areas of Significance-Check and justify below The Bus Line still operates service for over 2,500,000 passengers the early 2oth century version of the Colonial Revival style. Most Town Hall was apparently ready for occupancy by December,1914.
The bus service began on March 1,193l.Some residents and certain municipal building existed until plans were made in 19l3,and the new since its construction in 19l4.The building is an intact example of military - archeology-prehistoric -community planning _ landscape architecture _ religion -exploration/settlement 1914; 1931 public utilities opposed the action, but after several lawsuits, the When no private bus company came forward to provide service, Mayor philosophy Specific dates formation of a municipal bus line. The Village Council passed a resol- City of North Olmsted, Ordinances, Resolutions, Council minutes. William Ganson Rose, Cleveland: The Making of a City (Cleveland, 1950), pp. 1085-1086.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Geographical Data . state 11. Form Prepared By - Cleveland 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification _ national As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated 216-721-5722 Easting county date code Northing organization Zone telephone Ohio Attest: Verbal boundary description and justification name/title North Olmsted Elizabeth Lord, North Olmsted Landmarks Commission Quadrangle name UMT References State Historic Preservation Officer signature 9.
Major Bibliographical References I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register Eric Johannesen, Preservation Officer ACREAGE NOT VERIFIED List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries County.This is the lot on which the building stands. The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: Chief of Registration city or town Part of permanent parcel No. 232-ll-19, City of North Olmsted, Cuyahoga For HCRS use only ITM NOT VERIEIED /16/80 Western Reserve Historical Society date street & number according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service.
GPO 938 835 Acreage of nominated property 0.4 Acre Quadrangle scale 1:24,000 March 1980 10825 East Boulevard UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 8 - 9 PAGE 1 companies for gas, electric, water, and street railway services, and the authority to provide them was often subject to misuse. Moreover, industries various lines, the withholding of services, and the formation of holding 1972), 74, 141, 312-314. William Ganson Rose, Cleveland: The Making of a City (Cleveland,1950), 635-636, 700-701, 1004-1005.
FHR-8-300A companies to acquire control over related industries such as shipping private ownership was characterized primarily by franchises subject to private companies and was largely free of government bureaucracy.It the other.The spirit of laissez-faire in private enterprise was dominant. DATE ENTERED to regulate such abuses. At the same time, progressive reformers such as government became commonly accepted. it was only authorized to provide cheap power to local authorities and and coal mining. 9.
Samuel Eliot Morison, Oxford History of the American People (New York, bribery and corruption on one hand, and sporadic attempts at regulation on years later still brought accusations of creeping socialism,"even though of the street railways, although unsuccessfully; the City of Cleveland, for Thus the action of North Olmsted's Mayor Seltzer in 193l was revolutionary North Olmsted Town Hall (11/78) In the first decade of the 2oth century, several federal acts were passed Cleveland's Mayor Tom L.Johnson (1901-1909) fought for municipal control Until well into the 2oth relationship between public utilities and FOR HCRS USE ONLY example, did not acquire its local street railway system until 1942.
was not until after World War II that the provision of public services by such as the railroads wielded tremendous power by the consolidation of in concept.This is further demonstrated by the private opposition at the In the latter half of the 19th depended on private DUE TECHNICAL Inventory - BRANCH CHIEF KEEPER OTHER ARCHEOLOGIST Maps CONTROL Send-back HAER Property Re-submit Review HISTORIAN Photos National Register Write-up State Federal Register Entry Working Number REVIEW UNIT CHIEF NOV 2 5 1980 Entered United States Department of the Interior -Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service 2-2-82 TOWN HALL N. Olmsted, Cuyahoga Co. Ohio E. Johannesen 1980 W.R.H.S. NOV 2 5 1980 OCT 1 4 1980 South and East elevations, North Olmsted Town Hall OCT 1 4 1980 W.R.H.S. North Olmsted Town Hall N. Olmsted, Cuyahoga Co. Ohio looking SE.
2 North and West elevations, Thomas PaPE OLMSTD Ralhh artis BUS. LINE OCT 1 4 1980 municipal HowaRd Eskins hoRTh mayor BOB.Dun Ca SELTSER Cuyahoga County, Ohio CAR Y4879 Cuyahoya County, Ohio CiTY CAR OHIO-1931 OCT 1 4 1980 Cunjahoga County, O hio N. Olmslead Town Hall, Thomas PapE OCT 1 4 1980 OLMSTEd BUS. LinE STARTEd. Rallh ant/s. BOB DunFond 3/1-31 WiBuR.WEshin nORTh SracE mcSoragle Cuyahoga County ,ohio NORTH OLMSTED QUADRANGLE 4584/920 North NORTH OLMSTED, OHIO Paul R. Matra July 7, 1980 David A. Simmons I-71 & 17th Avenue Dear Mr. Simmons: North 01msted Town Hall on the National Register of OCT 1 4 1980 Cleveland: Wards 1, 2 (part), 4, 7, 9 (part), 21, 22, 33 (pct. P) 614/466-9744 Committees: Judiciary Statehouse Swietyniowski Ohio Senate PRM/mh REGISTER for this building. this noted landmark.
State Senator RECEIVED 25th District National Register Program Historian & Manager Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board Yours truly, Please do everything you can to obtain such a designation Education and Health I am writing this letter to endorse the placing of the assist in the City of North Olmsted's effort to preserve Columbus, Ohio 43216 Columbus, OH 43211 25th Senate District: Bay Village, Brooklyn, Fairview Park, Lakewood, Linndale, North Olmsted, Rocky River, Westlake, NATIONAL July 25, 1980 ROBERT W. SWIETYNIOWSKI Phone: 777-8000 I-71 and 17th Avenue OCT 14 1980 Columbus, Ohio 43211 is, as it was, the most important public meeting hall in the community. ldest in hio, created through an act of the City Council of North Olm- Stea in 1931, in the North Olmsted Town Hall.
Early records tell us the And funded throush federal moneys (Urban Mass Transportation Administra- dependent bus line in the GCRTA system, fully owned and operated by the sisted takeover attempts, and this spirit of independence is represen- MAYOR REGISTER NATIONAL State Historic Preservation Officer building, and the decisions which were made, many of which directly af- The City of North Olmsted Landmarks Commission and the administration a rich accounting of the people who served in government through this us, have been most grafifying.
Ohio Historical Center Ohio Historic Preservation Office search and communications with experts in the field who have assisted have worked together to bring the matter of registration before the pro- tative of the community pride which residents have always demonstrated, Line operates as a subgrantee of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit served the people of North Olmsted as a public auditorium, governmental in their city and in their bus line. Dear Mr. Brook: The City of North Olmsted wholeheartedly supports the concept of listing as it was during the early part of the century.City Council, and the fect residents of North Olmsted today. Mr. David L. Brook OFFICE OF THE MAYOR J01 28 OHIO 44070 Olmsted Municipal Bus Line has consistently remained the only truly in- communities. background of this historic act. various Boards, Commissions, and Committees, meet regularly here.
per agencies. The North Olmsted Municipal Bus Line has successfully re- The tireless efforts of Landmarks members, through re- RECEIVED struction in 19i4.City records preserved in the City Archives give us City of North Olmsted for its residents and for those in neighboring the North Olmsted Town Hall on the National Register. The Town Hall has The North Olmsted Town Hall is as much a part of community life today The people of North Olmsted are especially proud of their Bus Line, the Mr. David L. Brook July 25, 1980 CITY OF NORTH OLMSTED Elizabeth Lord Chairman, North Olmsted Landmarks OCT 1 4 1980 NATIONAL Commission REGISTER RECEIVED Town Hall does qualify for the National Register. Very truly yours, We are hopeful that the Department of the Interior will see fit to Page 2.
honor the City of North Olmsted by deciding that the North Olmsted STATE CALO Brendel, Charles, House Wiles, Perry, Grocery Company Honorable Howard M. Metzenbauhlso Notified Honorable John H. Glenn, JI. Honorable Willis D. Gradison, Jr. Mr. Dellas H. Harder Columbus, Ohio 43211 Honorable Ronald M. Mott1 Location Zanesville Grant School Clossman Hardware Store Name Honorable Tennyson Guyer Muskingum County Cuyahoga County Acting State Historic Preservation Officer Ohio Power Company Honorable Louis Stokes The Ohio Historical Society First Universalist Church of Olmsted Honorable Delbert L. Latta Honorable Tony P. Hall Date Entered For further information, please call the National Register at (202)343-6401. ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER Interstate 7l at 17th Avenue lionorable Clarence E. Miller North Olmsted Town Hall North Olmsted Honorable William Hl.
Harsha NOV 25 1980 Ce.Lina Wil1shire Bell, C. S., Thematic Resources St. Paul'a Episcopal Church Location Dayton STATE Name Wilmington Mercer County Cincinnati Otis Hospital Cleveland Date Entered Also Notified Smith Place Montgomery County Ninth Street Historic District Highland County Cuyahoga County Van Wert County For further information, please call the National Register at (202)343-6401. Hamilton Coumty Lafee Bulldings ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER Clinton County OHIO Willshire School