Built in 1880. 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
“The Anna Town Hall is a historic brick town hall in Anna, Ohio, United States. Built in 1880, it originally included space for the village offices, a jail, a fire station, and a community theater.”
Wikipedia article Anna Town Hall, CC BY-SA 4.0.
one of 19 National Register listings in Shelby County · listed in 1978 · category: Building · built in 1880 · one of 1 National Historic Landmarks in Shelby County.
National Register reference number.78002187- 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.
The ground it stands on
14,095 words
The chapter on Franklin Township in History of Shelby County, Ohio, published 1883 names Anna. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
This society was organized in September, 1832, by Rev. John Pence, at the house of Jacob Schlosser,*with Jacob Schlosser and wife, James Swander and wife, David Swander and wife, Philip Swandcr and wife, Henry Swander and wife, Peter Hartman and wife, Jacob Woodring and wife, Joseph Carmany and wife, members of the organization. They held their meetings at the houses of the different members about two years, or until 1834, when, by the help of the Lutheran Soeietr - , which was organized in the neighborhood in 1832, a union building was erected near where the old brick church now stands in Franklin Township, on the Wapakoneta Pike, two and a half miles south of Anna. It was a hewed log structure, 25 by 30 feet. In this building the two societies met alternately, and held their meetings for a number of years, or until 1845, when the Reformed Society sold their interest in the building to the Lutheran Society; and during the fall and winter of 1846-7 the Reformed Church erected their present building, in which they have since met and worshipped. It is located in Franklin Township, on the Wapakoneta Pike, a short distance south of where the old log church stood.
On the 18th day of February, 1844, he married Miss Sarah A. Persinger, daughter of Madison and Elizabeth Persinger, aided by whom he reared a family of twelve children, viz., Mary E., Joseph B., James S., Sarah C., Elias L., Martha E., George W., Rilla R., Anna A., Madison W., Carrie E., and Ida M. Mary E. and Anna A. are now dead.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 218 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Anna Town Hall between 1897 and
1970: 185 Animalia, 19 Fungi, 13 Plantae, 1 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. R. Gaufin, A.R. Gaufin, A.R. Gaufin, H.H. Ross 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
Anna, the town this property stands in, in 24 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 8 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 3 flood, 3 tornado.
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.
The first evidence of tornadic damage was on Wenger Road, where two barns were destroyed. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped and a residence had minor roof damage. Additional damage was noted along Amsterdam Road where a roof was lifted off of a barn and several trees were uprooted. Farther east, more trees were uprooted and a garage was damaged along County Road 25A. The tornado dissipated just west of I-75.
The first tornadic damage occurred along Wells Road, just west of County Road 25A, where a RV was overturned and a pair of properties sustained siding damage. Additionally, two trees were downed along County Road 25A. The tornado then crossed I-75, where it blew two tractor trailers over onto their sides. The tornado then crossed Highland Kies Road, where it blew down a tree, destroyed a shed, and blew shingles off of a residence and garage. Finally, the tornado destroyed a large outbuilding on Sidney Freyburg Road south of Amsterdam Road before dissipating.
Video evidence revealed that the tornado first began east of Sidney-Freyburg Road, just south of Wells Road. The tornado then continued north near Lochard Road, where damage to corn fields and some minor tree damage was observed. The tornado is believed to have dissipated just east of Lochard Road.
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
1,959 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
escape the winter cold. The first floor of the facade has had some alteration when the two g' their removal and will be put back when restoration occurs.
of the addition with the architectural of the original building is being CONDITION The UNEXPOSED EXCELLENT FAIR XDETERIORATED UNALTERED 7DESCRIPTION GOOD The facade has pleasing proportions with four metal hooded windows across CHECK ONE arched tin hoods with transoms have been stored in the upstairs since multi-paned window and two hooded doorways with transoms on the west side that faces north and the west side of the building are elaborate with the second story with pilasters creating the illusion of a projecting The Town Hall in Anna was built shortly after the town was incorporated This dormer has a pair of round arched windows that flank a larger central (see enclosed sketches and article.) in 1877 along the route of the Dayton and Michigan Railroad.The facade frontispiece topped with a gabled dormer that is flush with the facade.
planned at this time. which is the alarm system for the fire department housed on the first floor. of the facade are intact. 6/6curved arch window.On top of the dormer is the square bell tower the opera house, a stage area and a sloping floor for theater chairs. a frame restaurant. The rear of the building has never had an addition.
restoration of the exterior instead of Even though the funds are scarce, the village council voted to bring he was required to build the station, the unincorporated village was known Anna's older buildings of frame have been damaged by the quakes, but the used, the jail was discontinued, but the fire department still houses two 1700-1799 1600-1699 INVENTION RELIGION AGRICULTURE BUILDER/ARCHITECT SIGNIFICANCE ART THEATER X1800-1899 EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC PERIOD MILITARY SCULPTURE XARCHITECTURE 1900- MUSIC XPOLITICS/GOVERNMENT INDUSTRY building.
_COMMUNICATIONS fake stucco sheeting. railroad.He was the most influential figure in getting the railroad _COMMERCE 79 recorded quakes in Ohio have been centered in Anna which sits on glacial _TRANSPORTATION Town Hall has been untouched. 2.covering the second story with corrugated aluminum and restoration of the exterior according to old photos of the original trucks on the east side and the village council uses the west downstairs _CONSERVATION for an office and meeting room.
LITERATURE _ENGINEERING _ECONOMICS The area around the village of Anna (population-97o) was settled as early _PHILOSOPHY -1400-1499 _EDUCATION -SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN John W.Carey bought 1oo acres west of the present Baltimore and Ohio - PREHISTORIC -SCIENCE -1500-1599 1.tearing off the second story and covering the first Anna's Town Hall was built when a need for a jail, opera house, fire Iloor with new brick, or Anna is also known as the "Earthquake Capital of Ohio," since 29 of the and its original appearance.
that ran from Dayton to Michigan built through this area in 1857.Since brick town hall is outstanding_because of its multi-use by the village The community has committed themselves to back the original beauty of the building through preservation and was changed to Anna in honor of Carey's daughter.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 78002187, 11 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.
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