Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. 9 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1902.
From the record
“William Hurst was born at Elkington, Northamptonshire, England, January 7, 1804. He came to this country in June, 1831, and was a resident of Dover, Cuyahoga county, until the year 1834; he then removed to Elyria, and was engaged in the township business for four years.”
History of Lorain County Ohio with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pionners (1879). Machine-read text.
One of 121 National Register listings published here for Lorain County · listed in 1974 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.74001550- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
The ground it stands on
13,604 words
The chapter on Avon City in History of Lorain County, Ohio, published 1879 names Avon. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
Avon, or township number seven, in range sixteen, is located in the northeast cornerof Lorain county, and is bounded as follows: on the north liy Lake Erie; on the south by the township of Kidgeville; on the east by Dover township, in Cuyahoga county, and on the west l)y Shcftield township.
Early in the history of the Western Resevre, a road was established from Cleveland westward along the shore of the lake. Over this the mail was transported as early as 1807. (Sec history of Columbia.) Through the townshiji of Avon this road passes very near the bank of the lake, and here, where is now a succession of tasty cottages and beautiful villas, Noah Davis, in the year 1813, made a settlement, the first in the township. He erected the first log house, but where it was located, or who composed his family, we have been unable to ascertain, as he only remained a short time, removing from the township in less than one year. Two years pass before another attempt at a settlement is made, this time by men of great courage and a fixed determination to make themselves permanent homes in the wilde;ness. How well they have succeeded, the finely kept farms, with their substantial residences, skirting the line of the settlement (the ridge road) bear ample evidence.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 1,050 specimens
collected within 10 miles of William E. Hurst House between 1853 and 1975: 936 Animalia, 78 Fungi, 30 Plantae, 6 Protozoa.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. E. Ricksecker, A. Woolman, A.M. Evans 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
Avon, the town this property stands in, in 28 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 17 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 waterspout.
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.
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.
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Description of the property
stable wing includes a storeroom, and has two large arched doorway masonry has been painted, but the owner plans to The RECEIVED surround with "ears," and above that a frieze and cornice. At Fair constructed of dressed ashlar, except on the rear of the stable wing, where coursed rubble is used. The north facade has five roof is unusual.There are two great trusses with king posts. the house.The doorways are framed by fluted woodwork.Some integrity well above average for its date.The exterior front The walls are PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) - Pre-Columbian] X] 19th Century SPECIFIC DATEIS) (If Applicable and Known) - Prehistoric Other (Specify) - Agriculture - Science * Architecture - Landscape - Sculpture - Literature - Military STATEMENT OF
Statement of significance
This is an unusually fine example of a stone masonry house in pretentious of a number of stone houses in Lorain County, and the builders John and Charles Leneghan, exists. Walter Kidney has pointed out, "Stylistic correctness is not as the unorthodox combination of frieze and architraves on the On the other hand, no less a Greek Revival authority than Talbot Hamlin remarked that the house "boasts a front-door dignity and strength." In addition, the unusual roof structure is notable, and both of these features point to innovative designer- William E. Hurst was an immigrant from England who built the in the Hurst family until 1946. It has been carefully preserved JAN 1 5 1974 1843 builders. Commerce Conservation Communications Transportation entrance.
Engineering losophy REGISTER Aboriginal Industry SIGNIFICANCE Theater itarian NATIONAL Invention Political Music Urban Planning Education Religion/Phi Social/Human- fully observed as one might at first suppose." This refers to and restored since 1949by Mr.and Mrs.Charles H.Tomes. the Greek Revival Style. According to Campen, it is the most well documented, as the contract between William E. Hurst and design of the greatest power . . . the whole has an uncommon Art 1971), 102-103
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 74001550, 10 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 miles
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.
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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