Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1976. 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
“Polly Pierce used to relate many incidents of pioneer life in Peru, only one of which, however, touching her own experience, has been preserved. In the summer, 1816, accompanied by her little dog, she went through the dense forest on a brief visit to her father-in-law, Alden Pierce, in Greenfield. The family supplied her with a quantity of provisions, which she carried home with her, and, when within a mile of her cabin, she encountered a huge bear, which seemed intent on making a meal, either of the traveler, her provisions, or the dog.”
History of Huron County Ohio Its Progress and Development (1909). Machine-read text.
one of 15 National Register listings in Huron County · listed in 1976 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.76001457- 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.
Peru township was in the early settlement called Vredenburgh, after a Mr. Vredenburgh who had bought up the claims of the sufferers until he owned the second, third and fourth sections of the township. The first section was owned by other persons in the east, from whom the first settlers of that section bought their lands.
In the winter of 1820, the settlers held a meeting at the house of Joseph Ruggles, for the purpose of changing the name of the township, when the name of Peru was chosen by vote, and the name of the township has since been Peru.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 902 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Macksville Tavern between 1885 and
1975: 507 Plantae, 316 Animalia, 64 Fungi, 15 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. P. Morgan, A. Woolman, B Zahuranec & party 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
6 workings within 5 miles of Macksville Tavern: 4 past producers, 2 producers.
2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Peru, the town this property stands in, in 12 storm reports between 2005 and 2026: 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 flash flood, 1 hail.
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.
Heavy rain measuring 2.64 fell over in Norwalk on the afternoon of the 20th, most of which fell between 1 and 4 PM. US 250 and Route 20 flooded south of Norwalk, 4NE North Fairfield Section of Peru Olena Road in Norwalk washed away.
An EF1 tornado touched down in rural Peru Township south of Norwalk. The initial touchdown occurred along State Route 61 about half way between Hasbrock Road and Peru Hollow Road. Some utility poles and trees were downed in the area. The tornado then continued mainly northeast downing many trees. A large swath of pine trees was leveled along Ridge Road just south of Hasbrock Road. The trees were uprooted or snapped in a convergent pattern. The tornado continued northeast to New State Road where a couple of barns and sheds sustained some roof damage. The tornado then crossed the southern end of a golf course where more downed trees and projectiles were observed. The tornado eventually lifted just south of where Old State Road crosses U.S. Route 250. This tornado was on the ground for just under 3 miles and had a damage path up to 200 yards wide.
An EF0 tornado with estimated peak winds of 80 mph impacted portions of Peru Township. The tornado began at the intersection of Hettle and Terry Roads, where a pine tree was uprooted and several large tree branches were snapped. This tornado dissipated after crossing Peru Center Road.
Widespread road closures due to flash flooding across Peru, Bronson, Fairfield, Greenwich, and Townsend townships in Huron County. U.S. 250 underpass near Greenwich East Townline Road flooded with three feet of water, with a water rescue needed after a car drove into the flooded roadway. Radar estimated 2 to 3 inches of rain fell in a one to one and a half hour period.
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
1,651 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
46' by 76', in the Greek Revival style. The eaves have a box cornice consists of a typical five-bay and a three-bay facade, each with a center entrance, joined together. The two entrances are identical in treatment, with wide fluted pilasters and a heavy entablature. have been placed where the former tavern room and post office were Also on the ground floor are two living rooms, a kitchen, bath and has been done on the second floor. The entire length of the west bedroom around 1900. From the ballroom into the east wing there is a hallway which has two small bedrooms on either side. CONDITION The exterior is sheathed with horizontal clapboard siding. The windows DESCRIPTION FAIR EXCELLENT two bedrooms, presently occupied as living quarters.
No restoration On the north elevation there is another identical doorway, leading have twelve-over-twelve pane sash.The west elevation of eight bays wing is occupied by a ballroom. Around the periphery of its south This is an L-shaped two-story building of frame construction, into the former post office room.Three large storefront windows and a plain frieze, and there are cornice returns at the gable ends. located.These rooms are the location of the present antique store. end are wall benches.The last bay was partitioned to make a small CHECK ONE _UNEXPOSED - DETERIORATED XORIGINAL SITE X ALTERED LRUINS AREAS OF
Statement of significance
Peru, from the name of the township postoffice, almost from the begin- in 1836-1837. In 1840 A. F. VanderCook was taxed for a Tavern and home ville, especially of farmers taking grain to Milan, which was a pros- considerable activity, having had four stores, two distilleries, three 1836-1837 1500-1599 1400-1499 EDUCATION 1600-1699 ART ENGINEERING SIGNIFICANCE COMMUNICATIONS LAW PERIOD CONSERVATION THEATER BUILDER/ARCHITECT TRANSPORTATION PHILOSOPHY INDUSTRY AGRICULTURE coming of the railroads when the wagon trade was "something immense." SCULPTURE ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC first owner Daniel Mack.
However, it was generally referred to as perous port on the Milan Canal, an outlet to the Great Lakes and a LITERATURE X1800-1899 _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT _POLITICS/GOVERNMENT The Village of Peru was originally called Macksville after the main highways have by-passed the village. house.It is probably still standing only because the railroads and _1700-1799 which is no longer one of "considerable activity." It is a good example XARCHITECTURE ning. The first settlers arrived in the township in l815.
Daniel Mack _RELIGION of the Greek Revival residential style enlarged to provide a public This isa sizable early nineteenth century inn for a small village indicates that the Peru postoffice was located in this building at that to twenty-five teams and teamsters overnight.This was before the built the first mills in 18l6-l817,and the postoffice was established in 1818.The first frame house in the village was built in l820 by Mack. time.By l879,the village was referred to as one formerly _INVENTION - MILITARY 1900- An old account book dated 1854 on the site.There was considerable travel on the road through Macks- shipbuilding center after 1839. From the county tax records itisinferred that the inn was built
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 76001457, 13 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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