National Register reference number.78002103- 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.
Then and now
1901 to 1956
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
55 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19011956
The ground it stands on
21,546 words
The chapter on Amherst Township in History of Lorain County, Ohio, published 1879 names Amherst. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
Amherst is township six in range eighteen; lies in the northwestern section of Lorain county, a distance of three miles from the lake, and is bounded on tlie north by Black River, on the east by Elyria, on tile soutli by Russia, and on the west by Brownhelm. Its surface is moderately uneven, and it is traversed from east to west by tliree ridges which run the entire length of the lake, the ancient beaches upon which old Erie's waves spent their force in ages of which no man knows the beginning or the end. It is principally in these ridges, the north, middle and south, tljat the Ohio sandstone which has made the name of Amherst world famous, is found cropping out or coming so close to the surface as to make quarrying practicable. In some places along the north ridge, the rock rises in mounds or ledges. These elevations, undoubtedly, were once bare, bleak islands in a vast inland sea - fortresses of rock which have withstood the tiei'ce onslaught of the north winds' advancing hosts of waves, through centuries. In some places the effect of the wave washing can bo clearly seen.
Amherst was drawn by Martin Sheldon, Calvin Austin, Oliver L. Phelps and Asahel Hathaway. Tract number two consisting of four thousand acres in Black River, was annexed to equalize it. In con- 15 nection with the present townsliips of Black River, Brownlielm and Russia, Amherst was in 1817 organized into a township under the name of Black River. . This was by order of the Commissioners of Huron county, issued in February of the above year. The organization was effected iu the following February. Brownhelm was detached and incorporated as an independent township iu 1818, and seven years later the territory, now included in Russia township, was separated. From that time until 1830 the present townships of Amherst and Black River were included in one under the latter name.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 2,087 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Old Amherst Freight Depot between 1853 and 1975: 1,023 Animalia, 810 Fungi, 215 Plantae, 16 Protozoa, 13 Chromista, 10 Unrecorded.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by ?, A. A. Wright, A. E. Recksecker 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
4 workings within 5 miles of Old Amherst Freight Depot: 2 past producers, 2 producers.
2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, 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
Amherst, the town this property stands in, in 40 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 26 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 1 funnel cloud, 1 tornado.
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.
Widespread flash flooding across northern Lorain County due to heavy rainfall. Widespread basement and isolated first floor flooding reported in Lorain, Elyria, Amherst, Avon Lake, Avon, and North Ridgeville. Widespread flooded roadways reported. Post event damage assessments reported hundreds of homes and businesses flooded. Radar estimated rainfall of 3 to 4 inches falling in a three hour period, which matched several measured rain gauge reports from the area.
A thunderstorm downburst with winds of 80 to 90 mph moved across portions of Lorain County. The downburst began near the intersection of the Ohio Turnpike and State Route 58 and continued east northeast to near the Midway Mall in Elyria. Pockets of downed trees were observed in several locations just to the north of the Turnpike. The Ohio turnpike was closed near Exit 140 for several hours after a high tension power pole partially collapsed causing a power line to fall onto the road surface.
Thunderstorm winds tore the roof off of a house on Tacoma Avenue. Several other trees were reported down in the City of Lorain. The Emergency Manager estimated wind gusts to 60 mph.
The parent thunderstorm that spawned the tornado in Henrietta Township produced a second tornado north of Amherst. This touchdown occurred near State Route 2 between State Route 58 and Terra Lane. The tornado was on the ground for around 300 yards and had a damage path up to 50 yards in width. No structural damage occurred, but several trees were toppled along the damage path.
A funnel cloud was observed for several minutes over northern Lorain County. The funnel was first spotted along Cooper Foster Park Road in Amherst. The funnel then traveled northeast over the city of Lorain and finally dissipated near Avon Lake. The funnel never came in contact with the ground and caused no damage.
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
ally double doors, but during the recent renovation, the doors were replaced by pairs of The interior has been restored to closely resemble, as much as possible, the original erational. The walls are of exposed brick, as they werevoriginally, and have been wire-.. used for freight storage, but is now a large public meeting hall. Its ceiling follows renovation, but antique plumbing fixtures were added to the complement the station's CONDITION UNALTERED historic character road travel once was.These old cars are currently being restored. This building is a one story rectangular brick structure accented by wood trim.It has a broad gable roof that is covered with slate and supported by brackets at the eaves.
designed lighting fixtures.Two railroads passenger cars,dating from the 1940's, end, the original sign bearing the name Amherst has been cleaned and the letters repainted. The freight station is located along the Conrail tracks and has a large lawn in gable ends, brick patterns are used to differentiate the pediments from the rest of the off in the original vertical grooved wood siding.The restrooms are part of the recent the outline of the exterior roof, with massive wooden rafters exposed.These rafters A duplicate appears on the west end. also owned by the Nordson Corporation and are utilized for tours to show how rail- X.EXCELLENT - UNEXPOSED _RUINS -FAIR -GOOD surface . large meeting hall a light, airy appearance.
in its social function as a community center, its educational role in displayáng The Nordson Corporation, through the Nord Foundation, has rehabilitated train stations in Oberlin andlämhgrst and has contributed funds toward the service programs, such as day care, mental retardation and head start, in 1905 ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC these buildings. PHILOSOPHY ART LAW RELIGION AGRICULTURE SIGNIFICANCE BUILDER/ARCHITECT PERIOD THEATER 1900- EDUCATION MILITARY LITERATURE _ENGINEERING _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT _POLITICS/GOVERNMENT _COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY fully renovated, and serves as an excellent example of how an older building Local groups of school children and others are given tours of this building vice, this building has become a major social and community center for Amherst.
X.TRANSPORTATION INVENTION museum and a public meeting hall. _PREHISTORIC had become a useless building. -1400-1499 _ECONOMICS The old freight station served the New York Central's Lake Shore Line old train memorabilia, and as an example of sensitive rehabilitation of what _CONSERVATION and the three old train cars parked alongside it.The station has been taste- _1800-1899 -1500-1599 Corporation acquired the propetty about ten years ago for use as a railroad -1700-1799 -1600-1699 _SCIENCE - MUSIC Since it has been renovated by the Nordson Corporation as a community ser- can be adapted to a new use.Thus, the significance of this building lies 9
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 78002103, 15 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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