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Photograph of Justin Breckenridge House
Photograph by Nyttend, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Breckenridge, Justin, House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. 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

one of 113 National Register listings in Lorain County · listed in 1978 · category: Building · one of 2 National Historic Landmarks in Lorain County.

Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 5 buildingss as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 37174 S. East Main St., Grafton, 44044
  • When was it listed? 1978-11-29
  • Category. building
  • Township. Grafton village
  • Architectural style. Greek Revival architecture
  • National Register reference number. 78002107 - 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.

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 1,349 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,349 specimens collected within 10 miles of Breckenridge, Justin, House between 1853 and 1975: 664 Animalia, 505 Fungi, 148 Plantae, 15 Protozoa, 13 Chromista, 4 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. E. Recksecker, A. E. Ricksecker, 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.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Cantharellus minor PeckCantharellus minor Peck1896F.D. KelseyNear Oberlin
Specimen of Polyporus arcularius (Batsch) Fr.Polyporus arcularius (Batsch) Fr.1896F.D. Kelsey
Specimen of Dryopteris spinulosa (O.F.Müll.) WattDryopteris spinulosa (O.F.Müll.) Watt1899Ricksecker, A.E.Wood 4 miles south of Oberlin.
A photograph of the species Ammocrypta pellucida, not of this specimenAmmocrypta pellucida (Putnam, 1863)1853Baird, Spencer FullertonBlack River, below falls at Elyria, Ohio
A photograph of the species Etheostoma blennioides, not of this specimenEtheostoma blennioides Rafinesque, 18191853S. BairdBlack River Elgria Ohio (above falls)
A photograph of the species Etheostoma caeruleum, not of this specimenEtheostoma caeruleum Storer, 18451853S. BairdElyria, Ohio
A photograph of the species Etheostoma maculatum, not of this specimenEtheostoma maculatum Kirtland, 18401853S. BairdElyria, Ohio
A photograph of the species Accipiter cooperii, not of this specimenAccipiter cooperii (Bonaparte, 1828)1894Dawson, W. L. (William Leon)Oberlin, Lorain, Ohio, USA
Albugo candida (Pers. ex J.F.Gmel.) Roussel1894F.D. KelseyOberlin
Biscogniauxia atropunctata (Schwein.) Pouzar1894F. D. KelseyOberlin.
Botrychium virginianum subsp. virginianum1894Dick, W.M.Oberlin.
A photograph of the species Bryum caespiticium, not of this specimenBryum caespiticium Hedw.1894F. D. Kelsey

All 1,349 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Storms near this property

27 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Grafton, the town this property stands in, in 27 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 13 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 funnel cloud. The reports record 1 injury. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 1996LightningGrafton1 hurtno account filed
June 2024Thunderstorm WindGrafton$50,000Building collapsed at 2000 Avon Belden Road in Grafton area.
August 2023Tornado (EF0)Grafton$50,000A tornado with estimated peak winds of 85 mph occurred about three-miles north of Lagrange. This tornado began behind a residence on OH Route 301, where it snapped the tops of several trees, removed the porch roof completely, and removed portions of the home's roof. As the tornado moved southeastward, it caused significant damage to over a dozen trees, including several mature maple trees. One of these trees fell onto a another home, punctured its roof in several places, and damaged multiple vehicles. The tornado crossed OH Route 301 and damaged additional trees before dissipating soon thereafter.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindGrafton$50,000Thunderstorm winds downed many trees in Grafton and nearby Eaton Township. At least one house was damaged by trees.
January 2008Thunderstorm WindGrafton$15,000Several trees and a few utility poles were reported down.
September 2002Thunderstorm WindGrafton$15,000Thunderstorm winds downed several trees in Elyria and a few large limbs in Grafton.
July 2013HailGrafton$10,000The public reported golf ball size hail in Grafton.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindGrafton$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed a tree near Grafton and another just east of Eaton Estates. Power outages were reported in the area.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindGrafton$5,000Trees downed.
October 2006Thunderstorm WindGrafton$3,000A tree and large limb was reported down.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindGrafton$2,000A few large limbs were reported down.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindGrafton$2,000A few large limbs were reported down.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindGrafton$1,000Trees were downed.
April 2026HailGrafton-Hail up to half dollar-size about two-miles west of Grafton.
April 2026HailGrafton-Hail up to quarter-size in Grafton.
May 2025HailGrafton-Hail up to quarter-size in Grafton.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindGrafton-Large trees downed in Grafton.
March 2020HailGrafton-Trained spotter reported quarter-size hail in Grafton.
April 2011HailGrafton-Quarter sized hail was observed.
May 2007HailGrafton-Penny size hail was observed.
May 2006HailGrafton-Penny size hail was observed.
June 2006HailGrafton-Penny size hail was observed.
April 2005HailGrafton-Penny size hail was observed.
May 2004HailGrafton-Penny size hail was observed.
May 2001Funnel CloudGrafton-A funnel cloud was reported over the Grafton Correctional Facility. No damage occurred.
June 2000HailGrafton-Dime size hail was observed at a golf course just outside of Grafton.
June 1994HailGrafton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lorain County

Map coverage status

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

2,204 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

features is the front porch with its fluted, tapered columns and bold cornice. This large front porch, which extends across the entire front of the house, is an unusual feature for a Greek Revival doorway.This doorway features narrow side windows seperated from a paneled door the front and sides of the building are simply executed with sandstone lintéls and sills. They have which terminates at the front.facade. It is accented.by a cornice and parkial returns, but has no attic windows. tended to give all the bricks a rough appearance. an open stairway that has a railing with unusual rectangular tapered spindles.

The natural number of smaller rooms, but was remodeled into a single large room that serves as a combination CONDITION MOVED DATE UNEXPOSED UNALTERED kitchen and family room with high, exposed beamceiling. New bathrooms have been inserted XALTERED To the rear is a long one story wing, also of brick, that has a porch on the west side. The this entrance hall. They are finished with simple, massive wood moldings around the doors and main portion of the house has its original slate roof, but this wing has an asphalt shingle roof. by two pilasters, all of which are crowned by a detailed entablature. The window openings on house's original owner and date of construction.

Two parlors lie to the the north and east of It is also finished off in slightly rougher brick, although recent sand blasting of the brick has century, a pig barn, and a small brick smokehouse. The house is located on a large rural lot The Breckenridge House is a two story brick Greek Revival building.Among its prominemt woodwork has all been exposed in this hallway.

Read the complete 2,204-word case file.

Statement of significance

relate to specialized farm activities, such as food storage, pig raising, and milk production. At nine acres of land:Over a period of about five years the house was rehabilitated.This house the window sash and even a sizeable number of the original panes, and woodwork. Isaac Van Deusen's ownership, the house was destroyed by fire. The farm was then sold to Justin _ECONOMICS least one of the buildings is contemporary with the house, as it is made of the same bricks, but all -PHILOSOPHY LITERATURE -RELIGION Stephen Silbey was the first settler on this parcel of land, but he died suddenly and mysteriously -MUSIC LAW

The whole case file for this property - 2,204 words, 16 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 78002107, 16 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.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Grafton School0.9 miles2008
Immaculate Conception Church1.2 miles1976
Columbia Baptist Church7.1 miles1976
Old Elyria Water Tower7.1 miles1979
Columbia Town Hall7.1 miles1976
Shipherd, John J., House7.3 miles1979

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 78002107 in Record Group 79.
Lorain CountyAll 113 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • 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.