A National Historic Landmark. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. 7 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1905.
From the record
“The Joshua Reed Giddings Law Office is a historic commercial building at 102 East Jefferson Street in Jefferson, Ohio. Built in 1823, it was the law office of Joshua Reed Giddings (1795-1864), a prominent abolitionist who served as a U.S. representative from 1838 to 1859.”
Wikipedia article Joshua Reed Giddings Law Office, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 38 National Register listings published here for Ashtabula County · listed in 1974 · category: Building · a National Historic Landmark.
National Register reference number. 74001396 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.
Then and now
1905 to 1994
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
89 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19051994
The ground it stands on
31,200 words
The chapter on Jefferson Township in History of Ashtabula County, Ohio, published 1878 names Jefferson. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
The surface of the township is but slightly undulating, and its soil is better adapted to the interests of the dairy than to agriculture. Its timber consists chiefly of beech and maple, although there is a considerable quantity of chestnut, whitewood, and ash, and some cherry and black walnut. Mill creek is the principal stream, enters the township about one mile from the southeast corner, and flows northwestwardly until it reaches the extension of Market street, at a point about one-half mile south of the northern boundary of the township, where it changes its course and flows in a southwestwardly direction until it passes into Austinburg, at about one and three-fourths miles from the southwest corner of the township. It received its name from Sterling Mills, who settled upon its banks at an early day, in Austinburg. The stream has several tributaries, the chief one being Mill creek, which rises in the southern portion of the township and flows northwestwardly until it reaches the main current about a mile distant, in a westwardly direction from the northwest corner of the town-site of Jefferson. It derived its name from the fact that the first grist-mill in the township was erected upon its banks. Wolf creek obtained its name from the fact that the early settlers built a wolf-pen on the bank of the stream.
In 1809, John Shook, assisted by McDaniel, built the first grist-mill in the township, on the bank of Mill creek, about one and one-half miles northwest of the centre of the village. It was a rude affair, but was of immense benefit to the pioneers of Jefferson. Here the first flour made in the township was manufactured. In 1812, the mill having gotten out of repair, the dam being gone, the inhabitants of the township collected in force, rebuilt the dam, and put the mill into operation again. Not only did it do the grinding of the settlers wheat and corn, but grain was brought to it to be ground from Ashtabula, Austinburg, and Morgan. In 1810, Wareham Grant built a saw-mill on the same stream, a short distance southeast of Mr. Shook's grist-mill. This mill sawed the first board that was sawed in the township. In 1812 there was a noteworthy accession to the population of the township in the arrival from Sheffield, Berkshire county,
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Joshua Reed Giddings Law Office
in 2020, burning about 2 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Debris and open burning
2
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 483 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Joshua Reed Giddings Law Office between 1872 and 1975: 413 Animalia, 52 Plantae, 16 Fungi, 1 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. B. Fuller, A. Woolman, Ansley, G and others. Each is a
physical object with a catalogue
number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was
collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be
concluded from a species being absent.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Jefferson, the town this property stands in, in 32 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 23 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 1 lightning, 1 funnel cloud.
No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
Thunderstorm downburst winds produced a swath of damage across northern Ashtabula County. Damage stretched from the Jefferson area northeastward across Sheffield Township and into the Conneaut area. Significant tree damage was reported in Jefferson. A residence in Sheffield Township along Peebles Road had nearly 70 trees toppled. Dozens of trees were also downed in the Conneaut area with at least five homes in the town heavily damaged by fallen trees. Scattered downed trees were reported across the remainder of the area. Many power outages were reported.
Thunderstorm winds downed several large trees and power lines. Farm equipment was overturned and a roof was blown off a barn. Siding on an industrial building was damaged during this event as well.
The media reported numerous trees down in Jefferson and Sheriff's office confirmed trees and powerlines down across the county. First Energy reported 5000 customers lost power.
A large tree limb was downed on a house. Lawn furniture was blown across the yard. Neighbors homes were unaffected and a very small microburst is suspected.
Two men, ages 55 and 31 were struck by lightning while leaning on a metal pole in their yard. Both men were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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