Nomination for Foster--Gram House

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

OMB No. 1024-0018 FEB 18 This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines (Form 10-900a). Type all entries. 1. Name of Property other names/site number 2. Location street & number not for publication X vicinity city, town code OH zip code 43456 3. Classification Ownership of Property Category of Property Number of Resources within Property X private X building(s) Name of related multiple property listing: Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register - 0 4. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this National Register ofHistoric Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60.

Signature of certifying official State or Federal agency and bureau Signature of commenting or other official 5. National Park Service Certification 1, hereby, certify that this property is: Xentered in the National Register. J See continuation sheet. determined eligible for the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined not eligible for the removed from the National Register. other, (explain:) Signature of the Keeper Date of Action National Register of Historic Places Date Stonehenge district object structure public-State REGISTER Total Put-In-Bay public-local site public-Federal NATIONAL state Noncontributing Ohio Ohio Historic Preservation Office Registration Form Langrum Road National Register. historic name Foster-Gram House 12-3-91 United States Department of the Interior (Rev. 8-86) code 123 National Park Service NPS Form 10-900 the requested information.

If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, styles, materials, and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets Xnomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the In my opinion,the property for Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking"xin the appropriate box or by entering 3.19.92 Foster-Gram House, Put-In-Bay. Oh Ottawa County 6. Function or Use Current Functions (enter categories from instructions) Historic Functions (enter calegories from instructions) Domestic/single dwelling Commerce/specialty store Industry/manufacturing facility 7.

Description foundation - walls - MID-19TH CENTURY The Describe present and historic physical appearance. house sits along Langrum Road, one of the main township roads a small number of stone structures found on South Bass Island. The exterior walls are face of the upright, while_a brick gable wall chimney with corbelled top abuts the rear The 23'x 18' one and one-half story wing section extends northeasterly from the mirrored in its relatively spartan interior. Most floors are hardwood. Windows are [X See continuation sheet Limestone on the northeast.6 The front porch measures 23' x 7' and is constructed of screens and Asphalt built as a wine press house and the new-growth woods, which consists primarily of from the upright and wing sections to the porch are treated in similar fashion to those section, continues beneath the wing's end gable.

The general uncoursed rubble stone themselves are heavy, panelled outside doors. Front-facing windows and doors addition- roof An added 20' x 20' concrete slab patio sits before the upright section. Concrete Architectural Classification constructed of grout and Put-in-Bay dolomite, a limestone-like stone found only on (enter categories from instructions) corbelled brick ridge chimney. The plain wood frieze board, found in the upright in the upright section.

recessed with deep wood sills, and doorways are highlighted only by simple wood frame The Foster farmhouse may be defined as an Upright and Wing residence and is one of wall treatment is also continued in the wing, except for the front-facing wall which board beneath the aluminum soffit.A stone eave wall chimney abuts the southwesterly The Foster-Gram Materials (enter categories from instructions) cottage and a large, non-contributing stone and frame barn.

The cottage was originally House is The two-story, gable-roofed 36' x 24' upright section features a plain wood frieze The simple functional plainness of the exterior of the Foster-Gram Qther:Upright and Wing coursed rubble stone retaining wall.1,3,4,8 frame sills and casing.6,7,9,10 A single 4/4 sash window with shaped lintel is found hackberry and maple trees, has replaced what for many years was a 10-15 acre vineyard South Bass Island and a few smaller nearby islands in Lake Erie. The walls are treated on South Bass Island, before a small, new-growth woods.

Outbuildings include a stone steps lead up to the slightly raised patio, which terminates in front in a low un- wood framing.A transom light sits above the outside screen porch door.9Doors leading is white-washed.10 windows are double-hung, mostly2/2 or 6/6 sash with plain wood similarly treated with shaped crowns and frame sills and casing.13,4,6,7The doors United States Department of the Interior Foster-Gram House, Put-In-Bay, OH Ottawa County GH fireplace in the upright section. 12 southeasterly face.

It also is of rubble stone construction, with a pair of vertical Continuation Sheet focal point of the landscaping is a fountain and raised pool with rubble stone retain- shaped crowns.A low-pitched, gable-roofed cellar entry sits before the press house's National Register of Historic Places found throughout the house, and an apparently added or altered uncoursed rubble stone The one and one-half story press house/cottage is located approximately 70-80 feet way of Langrum Road, while the expansive front yard is populated with cedar and maple The whole complex is well-landscaped.A split-rail fence runs along the right of wood frame superstructure is of recent construction

National Park Service Section number _ 7 Page 2 southwesterly from the main house in a small copse of maple, hackberry and other small roof, while a gabled dormer with shingled walls and paired 1/1 double-hung windows sits Plank shed doors beneath the gable.2,15 uncoursed rubble stone and grout. A plain wood frieze board is visible beneath the gable floor walls date from 1935 and are of slip-form concrete and stone construction. The ways are deeply recessed and feature panelled doors with wood frame casing topped by plain wood frame sills and casing, topped by shaped lintels.Multi-paned cellar windows trees and underbrush.13-15 This 34'x 20'building is similarly constructed of uncut, United States Department of the Interior Section number - 1. Foster-Gram House Langrum Road, Put-in-Bay, Ohio Put-in-Bay, OH T. Langlois November, 1943 March, 1944 R.B. Hayes Presidential Center K.

Johannsen August, 1991 Please note: the location of property, photographer, date of photographs and location of 4. Foster-Gram House & Fence House Fountain Page Photograph List Press House Continuation Sheet National Park Service Ohio Historical Preservation Center camera faciny s National Register of Historic Places camera facing ne negatives is the same for all following photographs as for #3 and therefore will not be repeated. Barn 8. Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

Applicable National Register Criteria 1870 - 1935 William Wild ? its association with the wine-growing industry of the Lake Erie islands region. The Lake in the Lake Erie islands region. The complex is also eligible under Criteria C as an excellent example of the mid to late 19th century vernacular architecture found on South Although California has long been the predominant wine-producing state, Ohio led the among the top two or three states weil into the 1900's.' The first major Ohio wine-growing region was centered in the Ohio River Valley around Cincinnati. However, when these southern Ohio vineyards were decimated by rot, mildew and other horticultural diseases in Viticulture and the Lake Erie Islands region were ideally suited for one another. The islands' low annual rainfall and porous, limestone soil were conducive to grape growing.

annual income from a 10 acre vineyard as a farmer engaged in general agriculture could from a 100 acre farm. 4 highly successful and soon became the leading industry on South Bass, displacing fishing and general agriculture. Of 66 heads of household listed in an 1874 atlas, 49 listed grape- growing among their occupations. By 1878 some 71 grape-growers were cultivating over 550 of the island's 1380 acres. [x See continuation sheet 1872 Architecture Significant Dates ing materials. farm- Significant Person State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above. a small amount of acreage.

It was said that a grape-grower could generate as great an From a temperature standpoint the islands also benefit from the moderating influence of risk of a late killing frost while the warm fall breezes lessened the chance of rot and Industry/Agriculture stead is representative of the sma1l 10-20 acre family wine-growing farms which were common Lake Erie. Air temperatures in and around the lake are cooler than inland temperatures in Ohio.2 Erie islands at one time rivaled California's coastal valleys as a wine-growing region and Period of Significance nation in both the production of grapes and wine in the 1850's and 1860's, and ranked Historical Significance remained a major vine-producing area until the early 1900's. The Foster-Gram Architect/Builder the 1860's, the industry shifted its focus to the Lake Erie Islands region of northern the spring and warmer than inland in the fall.

These cool spring lake breezes reduced the Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Cultural Affiliation Foster-Gram House, Put-In-Bay, Ohia Ottawa Cou Elocally House is of local significance and eligible under Criteria A for The Foster-Gram- mildew and provided for a long growing season.3 Also land was valued at a premium on the nationally Commercial grape-growing began on South Bass Island around 1860.

The industry proved Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) Bass Island.The house and press house are especially unique in their use of native build- statewide United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Foster-Gram House, Put-In-Bay, OH Ottawa County OK islands were also known for their "basement wineries" and particularly in the early years some wine-growers pressed and stored their wine in basement cellars, others constructed consisted of a cellar for storage with the wine press located on a floor above so that the acquired 15 acres of land in the island's interior by land contract in the late 1860's. brother-in-law, William and Frank wild.5 Foster's widow, Roxa Wild Foster, and son, Ephraim A. Foster, operated the small into the 1900's, although there is no record that they continued to manufacture wine. The Cleveland, Ohio orthodontist.

of the barn now located behind the farmhouse, but completed only the first floor stone Cleveland, and the farmstead remained in the Lunt family for thirty years before being Besides its strong association with the Lake Erie islands' wine-growing industry, the house and press house are also significant architecturally for their Foster-Gram sumac and maple. Continuation Sheet Architectural Significance part in the more labor intensive activities such as tying and harvesting, with South Bass most grape-growers either had their own wine press or access to a neighbor's press. While Gram and Ermestina Andres.

The Gram family continued to cultivate the vineyard and orchard National Register of Historic Places their wines to larger wineries or by the keg, gallon or bottle to their own select list of 1862, had no prior experience in viticulture.A carpenter and boat builder by trade, Foster The grape and wine-growing industry continued to prosper on South Bass Island until the house.Foster isbelieved to have constructed the press house prior to his death in 1871. customers or to the tourists who flocked to the islands in the summer months. The Wilsons used the farmstead as their summer home and renovated the press house as a school children receiving holidays from school so that they might participate.

The Lake Erie He also may have participated in the early stages of the construction of the farm house, early 19o0's when it was beset with a number of adverse conditions including worm-out juice could flow down into the casks. As late as the 1890's, there were still as many as farms averaged between 5 and 20 acres in size.All members of a grape-growing family took section before his death. In 1951 the Wilsons sold the property to William Lunt of family winery for a few years before selling the farmstead in 188l to William Rehberg, Gram and finally to Henry Gram who sold the farmstead in 1935 to Dr. Harris Wilson, a Section number 8_ Page 2 seventeen such small family wineries operating on South Bass. These small wineries sold Like most South Bass island wine-growers, James W. Foster, who moved to South Bass in another South Bass island grape-grower.

Rehberg in turn sold the property in 1888 to Ernest family owned the property for 47 years as it passed from Ernest and Ernestina to William summer cottage which they rented out during the season. Dr. Wilson also began construction barm and press house are now open to public tours as a restoration in progress project.

fields, low prices, competition with produce from other states such as California, New small press houses.These press houses were typically of stone or frame construction and Foster's 15 acre farm included by 1874 an orchard, vineyard, press house, barn and farm York and Michigan, and Prohibition.During the 1910's,1920's and 1930's many island vine- yards were re-planted in orchards or abandoned to grow up in new-growth woods of United States Department of the Interior Foster-Gram House, Put-In-Bay, OH Ottawa County oi Section number _B Page - relative inadaptability of its stone construction, the residence has, with the exception islands.

While most island structures are of wood frame construction, a few are built of commercial wine-growing operations in the United States and is generally regarded as the Island settler, Longworth came to the island around 1860 to go fishing and Vroman acted as crop, $3,000 for his second, and so, according to the story, began the wine-growing Bass Island, Kelleys Island, the Catawba Island Peninsula, the Danbury Peninsula and a narrow strip of mainland which stretched along the lakeshore from Toledo, Ohio on the west to Sandusky, Ohio on the east. in the interior of Ohio, and it was not unusual for island grapes to be harvested as late as 6 weeks after those on the nearby mainland. Footnotes Continuation Sheet National Register of Historic Places materials. The transportation of building materials from the mainland to South Bass Island on South Bass Island.

random stone wall treatment, plain wood frieze board and double-hung 6/6 windows with in its plain wood frieze board, double-hung, multi-sash windows with shaped lintels, and and press house are two of the finest examples of the grout and dolomite structures found National Park Service its exterior mirrors the architectural heritage and integrity of the main house in its house also remains largely unchanged, right down to the plaster walls and plain wood floors planted the roots on the island where they prospered.He received $400 for his first grape father of the American wine-growing industry. He may also be considered the father of the integrity and use of unique native building materials.Described in one guide book to the L-shaped floor plan. With the added exception of a modern kitchen, the interior of the shaped lintels.

But what makes the two structures truly unique is their use of local building since the 1870's. The random stone treatment of the home's exterior walls reveals only was very costly and island builders therefore relied heavily on materials found on the Lake Erie islands as"a stone version of the islands familiar L-shaped farmhouses,"6 the -Nicholas Longworth, a Cincinnati lawyer, began one of the earliest successfu1 of an added concrete patio and possibly added brick and stone chimneys, changed very little and baseboards. Although the interior of the press house has been converted into a cottage, stone and grout. A small quarry and two lime kilns were operated for a while on South Bass, house Foster-Gram industry on South Bass Island. his guide. Afterwards Longworth sent Vroman some grape roots fram his nursery.

Vroman minor patching while the residence still displays its vernacular Upright and Wing heritage House is a vernacular Upright and Wing residence.Due perhaps to the Foster-Gram House, Put-In-Bay, OH Ottawa County ott Section number _8 Alfred Parker, a stone mason from England, as the probable builder of the home. Further Fosters only paid $800 for the 15 acre farmstead when they purchased it in 1871, and of wine in 1872. pg. 36. Brown, a son of the famed abolitionist John Brown and one of only a handful of survivors Footnotes Continuation Sheet Page National Register of Historic Places have been built before Foster's death as probate records also show receipts for the sale National Park Service evidence suggesting a construction date of 1872-1873 for the house is the fact that the believe Foster himself constructed the home before his death.

Still other sources list $200/acre, and in some instances in the region the income per acre approached $1,000 for building a home by the Foster estate. Other sources, including Foster's vacant land sold at that time for around $100 an acre.The press house is believed to United States Department of the Interior one of the two lime kilns on the island. AIn 1880 the estimated income per acre for South Bass Island vineyards was over of Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, W. Virginia. Owen Brown is also known to have built an acre. stone mason from England who came to the island in 1862. Parker wass assisted by Owen Foster-Gram House, Put-In-Bay. OH Ottawa County 9.

The rest of the file

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

Major Bibliographical References Langlois Collection, Hayes Presidential Center, Fremont, Ohio Ottawa County, Ohio Deed .records. Ottawa County, Ohio Probate records. Previous documentation on file (NPS): N/A -preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) X State historic preservation office Other State agency previously determined eligible by the National Register recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # Jrecorded by Historic American Engineering Record # Situated in the Township of Put-in-Bay, South Bass Island, Ottawa County, and State of Ohio: and being Lots 1,2,3 and 4 in Benjamin Subdivision, a subdivision in The legal description incorporates the 2 contributing buildings, the non- contributing barn and the remaining Foster farmstead acreage. 11.

Form Prepared By name/title - May 31, 1991 _telephone (419) 734-2337 _state_Ohio -zip code State University Press, 1987. Northing University date organization Other Local government has been requested Kyle Johannsen Ligibel, Ted and Richard Wright, Island Heritage. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio Boundary Justification previously listed in the National Register See continuation sheet Verbal Boundary Description designated a National Historic Landmark Federal agency Specify repository: Primary location of additional data: said township. 10. Geographical Data Langlois, Thomas, South Bass Island and Islanders. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio Ottawa County, Ohio Tax records.

UTM References Zone Easting street & number 229 Alice Street city or town Zone Port Clinton Acreage of property - 5.41 acres NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NAME : DATE OF PENDING LIST: DATE OF 16TH DAY: NOMINATOR: STATE N PDIL: N SLR DRAFT: N COMMENT WAIVER: N Intered in the ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS : 2/18/92 4/03/92 3/19/92 DATE 3/03/92 MULTIPLE REVIEWER DISCIPLINE RETURN REJECT RECOM./CRITERIA PERIOD: NATIONAL: OTHER: EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DATE RECEIVED: DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: ACCEPT REASONS FOR REVIEW: LESS THAN 5O YEARS: -count _resource type STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION _current _architectural classification _completeness _clarity _applicable criteria _context _relationship of integrity to significance _justification of exception -verbal boundary description _boundary justification FUNCTION acreage other materials DESCRIPTION historic Period Builder/Architect SIGNIFICANCE BIBLIOGRAPHY CLASSIFICATION descriptive text justification of areas checked Date Specific dates Phone GEOGRAPHICAL DATA _summary paragraph OTHER COMMENTS Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION/PRESENTATION Signed relating significance to the resource Areas of Significance--Check and justify below _sketch maps Statement of Significance one paragraph) USGS maps UTMs _presentation photographs Foster-Gram-Lunt House Ottawa County, OH RUTHERFORD B.

HAYES {enter FREMONT, OHIO 43420-2796 Presidential SPIEGEL GROVE *Foster- Gram- Lunt Press House Ottawa County, OH RUTHERFORD B. HAYES FREMONT, OHIO 43420-2796 Presidential SPIEGEL GROVE Foster-Gram-Lunt House Ottawa County, ON Foster-Gram- Lunt House Ottawa County, OM Foster-Gram-Lunt House Faster- Gram-Lant House 17 348 400 4L11780 Foster-Gram House GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ISLAND BENJAMIN SUBDIVISION SOUTH BASS . 19 89. -m Road PUT-IN-BAY LANGRAM #50829 Ohio Historical Center 1982 Velma Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43211-2497 Fax: 614/297-2411 February 6, 1992 Ms. Carol Shull, Chief P.O. Box 37127 Washington, D.C. 20013-7127 John M. Annis House W.

Ray Luce OHIO SOCIETY Enclosures 614/297-2470 County HISTORICAL REGISTER Franklin Cuyahoga Foster-Gram House Tuscarawas New Submissions NATIONAL Christian Pershing Barn Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Ohio Historic Preservation Office notification procedures have been followed for these new submissions. Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts State Historic Preservation Officer Enclosed are four new National Register nominations.All the appropriate Sincerely, SINCE 1885 Dear Ms. Shull: Please contact me if you have any questions. Ottawa