Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. 8 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1901.
From the record
“In June of that year Elder Hartwell, from the east, making a missionary tour through this portion of the Reserve, held meetings at the house of Wilbur Cahoon a few times, and traveled westward. Returning some two or three months later, he found that the sced sown on his first visit had brought forth fruit, the result of which was that the following persons were formed into achureh: Nicholas Young and wife and Jared Barr, of Avon; Jashar Taylor and Alwell and wife, of Dover; Dean and Alexander and wife, of Rockport.”
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 1978 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.78002104- 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 1994
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
93 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19011994
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 1,403 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Wilbur Cahoon House between 1853 and 1975: 1,087 Animalia, 269 Fungi, 35 Plantae, 8 Protozoa, 4 Unrecorded.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by ?, A. A. Wright, A. E. Ricksecker 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
This is a wood frame, L-shaped, Greek Revival structure with many features characteristic of that style. These include the wide entablatures, the return gables It stands on foot thick, stone foundations quarried on the site. Both the 6x6 windows and the paneled door have unusually plain architraves. The asymmetrical placement window which is said to be original. parlor, with its handcarved woodwork, and the drawing room, with its original a board and batten wing to the north side. A more recent detached garage, with its fireplace. CONDITION UNALTERED FAIR XEXCELLENT. The interior has six rooms on each floor.Most have plain trim except for the gable roof and narrow siding, is sympathetic with the original house. supported on Tuscan pilasters, the narrow siding, and the small frieze windows.
of these openings is also somewhat uncommon, as is the large second floor, sidelighted CHECK ONE Although the traditional date of the house is 1826,its mature Greek Revival The only major change has been the addition of a modern kitchen to the rear and - UNEXPOSED -RUINS -GOOD DATE style suggests later remodeling. AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE:-- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE SCIENCE _SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN MUSIC _OTHER (SPECIFY) SPECIFIC DATES STATEMENT OF
Statement of significance
1814. They came from Montgomery County, New York. 1818, he began construction of a grist mill. Beside these activities, Cahoon served as the Judge of the Elections, Justice of the Peace, Grand Juror, Treasurer, Overseer of the Poor, Trustee, and his widow until her death in 1857. The Greek Revival architecture, although typical of its period, is distinguished by its asymmetries and low proportions, evidence of the originality of the local builders and the flexibility of that style. considerable local importance.
1500-1599 X1800-1899 1826 ECONOMICS ART PREHISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD ENGINEERING COMMUNICATIONS ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC AGRICULTURE LAW ARCHITECTURE SCULPTURE INDUSTRY LITERATURE MILITARY X.EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT This house has connections with Avon's early development.Wilbur Cahoon _POLITICS/GOVERNMENT According to the county history, Cahoon began this structure in 1826 as the _THEATER _TRANSPORTATION The Wilbur Cahoon House, as the residence of Avon's first settler and as his _CONSERVATION _1900- completing its structural frame.The house was later finished and occupied by was the first settler in Avon, arriving with his wife and eight children on September 10, nearby French Creek which was in use for the next fifty years.In the summer of - 1700-1799 -1600-1699 _PHILOSOPHY first frame house in Avon.He died of apoplexy in December of that year after first attempt at building in a recognized architectural style, is a landmark of - 1400-1499 _RELIGION _EDUCATION -COMMERCE He first built a log cabin on this site.
The next year, he built a saw mill on ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC _COMMUNITY PLANNING Constable.Many of his children were also active in Avon's civic affairs, _INVENTION
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 78002104, 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.