Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. 9 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1910.
From the record
“Harris House is a historic residence in Zanesville, Ohio, United States. A Gothic Revival building constructed in 1863, it lies along Newman Drive on the city's eastern side.”
Wikipedia article William B. Harris House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 81 National Register listings published here for Muskingum County · listed in 1978 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.78002161- 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
1910 to 1994
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
84 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19101994
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Zanesville city. The inset identifies its exact
source book and publication year.
was so named in honor of Captain John C. Hazlett, of 2d O. V. I., and his cousin, Harry Hazlett, of the 5th U.S. Artillery, both of whom were killed during the Civil war; the post was organized June 1, 1881, with the following officers: C. C. Goddard, post commander; M. V. B. Kennedy, senior vice commander; Wilson C.
Zanesville and its immediate vicinity possess facilities for manufacturing in nearly, if not quite, all the industries requiring skilled labor, it is believed, all things considered, equal, if not superior to those of any place East or West. In every item to be taken into account in the make-up of a manufacturing city comparison is challenged. It was the remark of the late John Quincy Adams made in reference to the water power here existing, that "Zanesville was the Lowell of the West." Henry Clay, in one of his letters, after personal inspection of the water power at this point, said: "The water power furnished by the James river at Richmond makes it the best manufacturing site in the United States save that at Zanesville, Ohio." These opinions were expressed before the era of coal and railway transportation.
The manufacturing interest of Zanesville are at this time its leading attraction. It is a growing interest and is imparting to the city a permanent and solid character, and placing it among the most prosperous cities of the West. The progress made in this direction has been rapid during recent years. Old industries have been enlarged and extended, and new ones added which bid fair to become large and prosperous enterprises. This stimulus to manufacturing industry is attributed to the fact that fuel and living are so cheap, market supplies of all kinds so abundant, the facilities for shipment so superior, and the location so central and generally so advantageous. Besides a more enlightened and liberalized sentiment than heretofore existed now prevails, and there is exhibited more of a disposition to encourage productive enterprises by furnishing money at liberal rates to aid in their prosecution.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 55 fires within 5 miles of William B. Harris House
between 2002 and 2020, burning about 50 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Debris and open burning
32
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
6
Equipment and vehicle use
5
Power generation/transmission/distribution
4
Smoking
3
Arson/incendiarism
2
Recreation and ceremony
2
Other causes
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 858 specimens
collected within 10 miles of William B. Harris House between 1873 and 1975: 737 Animalia, 96 Plantae, 15 Fungi, 5 Protozoa, 4 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A.E. Miller, Adams, W. (William), Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) et al., Adams, W. M. 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
8 workings within 5 miles of William B. Harris House: 5 producers, 3 past producers.
5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron. 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
Zanesville, the town this property stands in, in 113 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 62 thunderstorm wind, 26 hail, 17 flash flood, 5 flood.
The reports record 1 death. 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.
Thunderstorm winds blew down four power poles and power lines just north of Zanesville. Several trees were also reported down across the eastern part of the county.
Street flooding was reported in and near Zanesville after 1.30 inches fell in 20 minutes. Large branches were downed east of Zanesville. One branch fell on a passing motorist's car. There was no mention of any injuries.
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
AND FIXED SIDELIGHTS, A SECOND PORCH IS FOUND ON THE WEST SIDE, FEATURING FLOOR-LENGTH IHE EXTRA CARE GIVEN TO THIS PORCH WAS NO DOUBT THE RESULT OF ITS HAVING BEEN USED A ONE-STORY BOW WINDOW WITH AN APPROXIMATE RADIUS OF EIGHT FEET, ENHANCED BY THREE WITH TAPERED LINTELS, MOST WINDOWS ARE FLAT ARCHED, EXCEPT FOR THOSE AT THE GABLE FULL-LENGTH WOODEN_LOUVERED SHUTTERS, WHICH ARE OPERABLE AND IN A GENERALLY GOOD STATE OF REPAIR.
THE HOUSE IS COVERED BY A SLATE INTERSECTING GABLE ROOF, WITH A ONE-STORY ORIGINAL EXTENTION TO THE SOUTH COVERED BY ITS_OWN GABLE ROOF, TO THE ACCURATE PRESERVATION OF HER HOME, AND HAS DISTURBED ONLY THAT WHICH WAS AL- READY STARTEDOR WHICH WAS SUFFERING FROM A LACK OF MAINTENANCE, SOME OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUTBUILDING HEMMER'S SUBDIVISION, AND FEATURES A WELL-KEPT YARD WITH SEVERAL LARGE SHADE TREES PENETRATE THE COMMON-BOND BRICK STRUCTURE ON THE EAST, WEST, AND NORTH SIDES, THE CONDITION DESCRIPTION XEXCELLENT XALTERED _UNEXPOSED CHECK ONE CONTRIBUTES TO THE OVERALL IMPRESSIVE APPEARANCE OF THE INTERIOR,THE FIREPLACES ADDED SPACE FOR THE LIVINGROOM AND MASTER BEDROOM.THE SOUTHEAST WALL INCLUDES FUNCTIONAL CHIMNEYS RISE FROM THE VARIOUS ROOF RIDGES.PROJECTING AT SEVERAL THIS HANDSOME THREE-STORY BRICK HOME IS IRREGULAR IN PLAN SHAPE.ITS DESIGN _DETERIORATED MUCH OF THE INTERIOR REMAINS INTACT WITH MINIMAL ALTERATION.CONTEMPORARY GENTLY CURVING WINDOWS.THE WINDOWS THROUGHOUT THE HOME ARE DOUBLE HUNG,AND ARE WINDOWS,ROUND COLUMNS,AND TRIM MORE DETAILED THAN THAT FOUND ON THE NORTH PORCH.
HE REASONED THAT A FINE HOME WOULD BE A SOUND INVESTMENT DEATH ON MARCH21,1901,THEEIGHT-ROOM HOME WAS OWNED BY JOHN HEMMER OF HEMMER ICE CREAM COMPANY, AND LATER BY CHARLES PFEIFFER, A LOCAL ATTORNEY, 1500-1599 1600-1699 ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC CONSERVATION COMMUNICATIONS SIGNIFICANCE EDUCATION PERIOD THEATER TRANSPORTATION AGRICULTURE LAW ART RELIGION MILITARY LITERATURE XARCHITECTURE _ENGINEERING SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN BEING USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS RESIDENCE.FOR THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF THE _PHILOSOPHY -1700-1799 1900- _1400-1499 THIS HOME IS A FINE EXAMPLE OF MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY MIDWEST RESIDENTIAL _INVENTION -COMMERCE ARCHITECTURE, WITH INFLUENCE FROM THE GOTHIC REVIVALIT WAS BUILT BY WILLIAM B X1800-1899 - MUSIC COMMUNITY PLANNING BEHIND HARRIS' BUILDING OF THIS HOME, WITH THE CIVIL WAR UNDERWAY, HARRIS DID NOT KNOW BUILDER/ARCHITECT WILLIAM B.
HARRIS (UNLIKE CURRENCY), GUARANTEEING HIM A RETURN ON HIS CAPITAL, AFTER WILLIAM HARRIS' -ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC SPECIFIC DATES C. 1863 GEORGE, BEGAN THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICKS IN ZANESVILLE IN 1863,THE FIRST BRICKS BUSINESS THE KILNS WERE CONSTRUCTED OF BRICK DAUBED WITH CLAY.PERMANENT KILNS WERE
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 78002161, 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.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
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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