Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1974. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
From the record
“The Masonic Temple in Kent, Ohio is a historic building which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built between 1880 and 1882 in the Italianate style, it was originally the home of Kent namesake Marvin Kent and his family.”
Wikipedia article Masonic Temple (Kent, Ohio), CC BY-SA 4.0.
one of 42 National Register listings in Portage County · listed in 1974 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.74001604- 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
3,758 words
The chapter on Kent City in A Visitation of the County of Kent, published 1906 names Kent. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
Stowe MS. 621 in the British Museum, formerly the property of John Holland, is described in the catalogue : « Original Pedigrees of Kentish Families to 1663 (in which year Bysshe made a Visitation of the County), with the signatures of members of the several families, f. 2," and on the title page is written " A peice of the Visitation of Kent." This manuscript contains sixteen pedigrees in the same handwriting as the Heralds' College copy, and all signed by the heads of the families or their representatives, whereas the pedigrees of the same families lare not signed in the College copy, so it would seem that some of the original pages had been mislaid and a copy substituted for them in the official copy in the College. These pedigrees are marked (Stowe MS. 621) in the reference.
These complaints were delivered to Sir Edward Bysshe by his own request by Sir Edward Walker, Garter King of Arms.* He appaiently disregarded them, for at fo. 100 we find that an order was made by James, Earl of Suffolk, deputy to the Earl Marshal, prohibiting Sir Edward Bysshe to make airy new Visitations until he had rectified the errors and defects of the books of his Visitation of Kent (among others). There is in Add. MS. 22,883 a summary of the alleged errors in this Visitation, as follows : - have been done." It is curious to note that these complaints were mostly made between 1670 and 1674, whereas the Visitation is said to have been finished in 1668, but there is no further reference to them in the correspondence. Sir Edward Bysshe died in 1679.f
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 770 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Masonic Temple between 1883 and
1975: 498 Animalia, 232 Plantae, 33 Fungi, 5 Unrecorded, 1 Protozoa, 1 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. D. Huryn, A. F. Clewell, A. K. Wyatt 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 federal mineral resources record lists
12 workings within 5 miles of Masonic Temple: 5 past producers, 5 producers, 2 plants.
7 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Kent, the town this property stands in, in 34 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 25 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 1 flash flood.
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.
A thunderstorm downburst with winds estimated at 85 to 95 mph hit the west side of Kent. The area affected by the downburst was one quarter wide mile and approximately a mile in length. Several hundred trees and 40 power poles were downed. A total of 25 homes were damaged including four that were declared unhabitable. In addition, a camper and over a dozen automobiles were crushed by fallen trees. Widespread power outages occurred and a state of emergency was put in effect because of the widespread and severe damage.
Widespread flash flooding in Kent and Ravenna. Several roads flooded and impassable with several feet of standing water, including OH-59 between downtown Ravenna and OH-44. Dispatch received 30 calls to assist motorists stranded in flood waters. Widespread basement flooding reported. Radar estimates and gauge measurements indicate 3 to 3.25 inches of rainfall in a two hour period.
Thunderstorm winds downed between 15 and 20 trees in Kent and surrounding Franklin Township. Two houses in Kent were damaged by fallen trees. Both houses sustained roof damage with one also having a wall knocked down.
Members of the public and social media indicated tree damage in Kent. Two trees were downed on Riverbend Trail and three trees were downed in Artemis Drive Park.
Trained spotter's personal weather station recorded a peak convective gust of 80 mph about 1.5-miles southwest of Kent. Numerous large trees were snapped in the area.
No historic map-sheet match is published
for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs
a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
Browse the county's mapped places while that work is
pending.
From the nomination file
1,369 words on record
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
Of Italianate style, the building is of two and one half stories in height, with a three story tower in the front. A high hipped slate roof with irregularly spaced dormers houses a ballroom, now trim is of sandstone, the latter handsomely carved with trailing vine Architecturally, the building is of interest for its use of a combination lintels are carved and shaped from single blocks of stone, again set JAN 1 5 1974 CONDITION Ruins Excellent REGISTER NATIONAL retains its complete original furnishings. and are unchanged from the original.The interior contains carved have stone posts with carved capitals in a modified Corinthian motif.
Windowsills are of stone supported by stone consoles.The window upon stone console-shaped supports which are combined with molded bricks to give a three-dimensional effect to the window itself.In woodwork throughout in various kinds of exotic woods.Much of the and flower motifs.Porches are of wood, with posts of sandstone, cut to simulate the turned wooden posts of the day. Both interior and exterior of the building have been well-maintained carpeting and wallpaper in the house is original, and one bedroom The building is architecturally unchanged from its date of construction. Dormers utilize wood with an openwork design similar to that carved The cornice is bracketed with an underlying motif of molded bricks. in stone in the door and window lintels.
(Check One) surrounded by a wall of wirecut brick in 1923. In addition it retains original woodwork finish and wallpaper.Interior window shutters are original throughout the house Chimneys as well utilize molded bricks in their upper portions. and porch posts are of sandstone combined with molded brick and wood. addition, the 1intels have carved vine and flower motifs.The porches Fair Good
Statement of significance
The house, originally called "The Homestead", was built by Marvin Kent, Benjamin Harrison, William Mckinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren JAN 1 5 1974 Communications Military Commerce Room.
Conservation REGISTER losophy Architecture Aboriginal NATIONAL Transportation Engineering Religion/Phi Literature Agriculture Music Science itarian Prehistoric Pre-Columbian Education Industry interior finish was made from timbers taken from the first covered Invention throughout the house is made from locally-grown timber.Much of the Sculpture Marvin Kent was a prominent Ohio Republican.Four presidents- and railroad tycoon, bringing both railroad service and several manu- Social/Human- after whom the town was named.Kent was a prominent local manufacturer carvers were brought from New York city to carve the woodwork which facturing concerns to the town.The architect/contractor of the build bridge spanning the Cuyahoga River in the town, and from the Alpaca ing was Isaac D.
Tuttle of Ravenna, the Portage county seat.Woodwork rather difficult to maintain today, the building is in some danger of abandonment by the Masons. Landscape Mill, one of the Kent enterprises. "The Homestead was used as the Kent family home until 1923 when it Other (Specify) SPECIFIC DATE(S) (It Applicable and Known) Built 1880 AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) each of the men, is maintained intact, and is known as the President's Art G.Harding were entertained in the house.One bedroom,occupied by
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 74001604, 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.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
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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