Photograph by Snyder, Frank R. Flickr: Miami U. Libraries - Digital Collections, Public domain. Via
Wikimedia Commons.
Herron Gymnasium
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1979. 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
“Herron Gymnasium was a gymnasium and classroom building on the Miami University campus in Oxford, Ohio. Later known as Van Voorhis Hall, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in November 1979.”
Wikipedia article Herron Gymnasium, CC BY-SA 4.0.
one of 63 National Register listings in Butler County · listed in 1979 · category: Building · one of 3 National Historic Landmarks in Butler County.
National Register reference number.79001788- 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.
August 5, 1811, at a session of the same commissioners, on petition of inhabitants of Milford Township, it was 'ordered, that so much of the township of Milford as lies within the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the northwest corner of the county of Butler; thence south with the western boundary line of the said county of Butler to the southwest corner of township numbered five in the first range east of the meridian line drawn from the mouth of the Great Miami River; thence east with the southern boundary line of the same township to the southeast corner thereof; thence north with the eastern boundary line thereof to the north boundary line of the said county of Butler; thence west with the same to the place of beginning, - shall compose a township which shall be called and known by the name of Oxford Township." Election to be held at the house of Sylvester Lyons on the 24th day of August, 1811, for the election of township officers.
Oxford Township presents a variety of soils and surfaces: The land is generally elevated and well. adapted to grazing, the growing of wheat, and produce of all kinds. Farms are small, and the agricultural population large for the territory embraced. With the exception of two or more sections, the land belongs to the Miami University, the trustees of that institution leasing the land for ninety-nine years, renewable forever, subject to the annual payment of a quit-rent of six per cent on the purchase money.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 1,908 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Herron Gymnasium between 1879 and
1975: 852 Animalia, 774 Fungi, 208 Plantae, 60 Protozoa, 13 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by ?, A. V. J.; W. G. S., A.L.; Bucholtz, I. 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
1 working within 5 miles of Herron Gymnasium: 1 plant.
All of them still produce. What was taken out: 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
Oxford, the town this property stands in, in 42 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 25 thunderstorm wind, 15 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 flood.
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.
One half mile of power poles were knocked down along State Route 732. Three trees up to 12 in diameter were snapped along Reily-Millville Road. A greenhouse was blown over on US Route 27 in Hanover Township.
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
5,966 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
Herron Gymnasium, presently named Van Voorhis Hall, is the oldest existing construction, arched window lintels and small arched windows in the second story. Blind brick arches reinforce and decorate the second story exterior walls. Four Unusual tadpole-shaped brackets decorate a curved frieze in the cornice. The wings. CONDITION EXCELLENT UNALTERED campus.
DESCRIPTION FAIR flanking wings.A centrally placed front double door has a solid wood-panel thus eliminating unique architectural styles from the visual fabric of the centrally placed windows in the second story have one over one double hung CHECK ONE Symmetrical massing and the various types of arching distinguish this building Herron Gymnasium is a two story rectangular brick building with a low hip roof that presents solid massive elevations on all four of its sides.It is dominated are covered with pressed tin.A circular metal stairway leading from the first Classrooms and offices occupy the first floor and all ceilings on this floor renovation and the fact that it does not match the prevailing Georgianesque The structure begins with a solid foundation made of large rock-faced stone Four rectangular windows are in the first story in each of the flanking hip roof is tin and is topped by asphalt roofing material.
Two chimneys original been constructed in 1897.This old gymnasium presents a utilitarian-Romanesque fa- academic are excluded from this classification) building on the cade to the campus and is in jeopardy because of limited state funds for Miami University campus and the only academic building predating 1900,having with the building have been removed. arches and small arched windows at the top of the second story. from any other on the Miami Campus. to the second has been removed. - UNEXPOSED -RUINS DETERIORATED blocks laid in plain ashlar.
Hamilton, Ohio Gymnasium, a tangible reminder of the origin and continuity of distinguished John W. Herron, Miami class of 1845, for whom the building is named, conceived the idea and hired F. E. Townsend, an architect from Hamilton, Ohio, to draw 1897, state, Hall after Tom Van Voorhis, Miami Class of 1920, who was Miami's physical Social events are a part of Herron history. The Sophomore Hope, the Junior Prom, 1400-1499 1700-1799 1600-1699 PERIOD ECONOMICS TRANSPORTATION BUILDER/ARCHITECT THEATER LAW AGRICULTURE SCULPTURE POLITICS/GOVERNMENT RELIGION LITERATURE SIGNIFICANCE MILITARY collegiate athletics.
_CONSERVATION MUSIC INVENTION its Romanesque architectural style and roof truss system are unique to the education director for many years.Development and improvement of intramural _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT _COMMUNICATIONS mason for this building was Harry S. Thobe who was active in the Oxford building Herron Gymnasium served as a coeducational facility until Withrow Court was great crowds that first floor window openings had to be braced with four by fours. to coaching staffs at all levels of educational and professional sports in this PREHISTORIC Herron Gymnasium is significant in both a local and national context.Locally, sports coaching in America, stands as evidence to this beginning in l924.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 79001788, 55 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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