National Register reference number.79001887- 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 1956
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
55 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19011956
The ground it stands on
77,639 words
The chapter on Oberlin City in History of Lorain County, Ohio, published 1879 names Oberlin. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
The following sketch of Oberlin history is mainly a compilation, but it may be regarded as reliable, anil is as complete as the scope of this work ^vill admit. The facts and documents pertaining to the early history, I have taken chiefly from the " History of Oberlin," in manuscript, by President Fairchild ; of which, availing myself of the generous offer of the author, I have made free use. Other facts and statistics have been taken from the college catalogues, from articles in the Oberlin Evcmtjelisi and in the Oberlin Revieir, and from other sources, for my indebtedness to which, this general acknowledgment must suffice. For the estimates of Oberlin, and of a few of its leading men, the writer is alone responsible. H. M.
The history of Oberlin m;iy be said to be the history of an idea, first, as conceived in the minds of individuals and matured into a plan, which may be called its origin; then as converted by them into fact, and made an outward reality, which constitutes its begitining; next, as receiving a sudden increase of mental and moral force, which gave it enlargement, and was its second beginning, from which it should proceed as from a new point of departure; and finally, as its natural and gradual development, in which is found, amid strivings and conflicts, its growth to maturity. In this fact, that Oberlin is built on and represents a progressive idea, or a fundamental principle, is found its distinctive and representative character; and this is the true explanation of the enthusiasm it awakened, the oi)position it excited, the success it has achieved, and the work it has wrought.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 1,795 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Frank Jewett House between 1852 and 1975: 922 Animalia, 612 Fungi, 225 Plantae, 15 Protozoa, 13 Chromista, 8 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.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Oberlin, the town this property stands in, in 28 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 17 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 4 flash 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.
Flash flooding reported in Oberlin and Pittsfield Township due to heavy rainfall. Several reports of flooded basements. OH-303 closed between Pitts Road and Quarry Road due to flash flooding. Radar estimated 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rainfall in a three hour period.
Thunderstorm winds downed many trees and large limbs across the county. The Oberlin, Kipton and Elyria areas were especially hard hit. A barn was blown down in Eaton Township. A car was crushed by a tree in Elyria. A peak wind gust of 54 mph was measured at the Lorain County Airport near Elyria.
Six to eight inches of flowing water was reported across US-20 near the OH-511 interchange east of Oberlin. Radar estimated around 2 inches of rainfall in one hour at this location.
Strong thunderstorms with rain, wind, and hail moved over portions of Lorain County. Rainfall rates approaching two inches per hour were reported with this storm. Flooding occurred in Oberlin with several roads impassable with water up to the hoods on cars.
Heavy thunderstorm rains caused widespread street flooding in Oberlin. Water on some roads was over two feet in depth forcing several motorists to abandon their vehicles.
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
on its original site. The other two buildings were moved to their locations to the rear of the Jewett south are other old residences, while to the north isa landscaped parking lot owned by Oberlin College. The Frank Jewett House is a two story brick structure that was constructed in 1884. Stylistically, it reflects the transition from Italianate forms to the Queen Anne style. It features tall, narrow window windows and doors and brackets at the eaves. The house has two small porches at the. north side which The Little Red Schoolhouse is a small, very plain structure constructed of wood in 1838. It measures after having undergone considerable alteration when it served as the rear portion of a residence. The the time of its construction.
Its lack of ornament, however, makes this a vernacular building. The ex- a central cupola distinguish this house as an important early example of the Italianate style. Unlike many Italianate buildings, a delicate dentil course substitutes for the usual groupings of paired brackets and serves as an entranceway for the large central doorway and the two pairs of floor length windows taining servant's rooms, a kitchen and a back stairway. The interior of this house features a central hallway with a grand stairway that curves at its top and has a niche for statuary, plus several formal needs considerable attention before it can be used as a museum, as is planned.
CONDITION UNEXPOSED DETERIORATED EXCELLENT _UNALTERED XGOOD These three buildings comprise an historic park that is in the process of development by the Oberlin The grounds surrounding these buildings contain shade frees and shrubbery.
and has preserved buildings that are significant not only because of their architecture but because of their direct association with the early history of the community and some of Oberlin's most distinguished educators when he came to Oberlin College in 1884 to teach chemistry. He was trained at Yale, Harvard and in Germany; he taught briefly at the Imperial University in Tokyo before coming to Oberlin. Jewett was one of Oberlin's most popular professors and his home served as a frequent setting for student gather- in 1851 and moved to another site, where it became the rear section of a house. In 1958, the school tween the Jewett and Shurtleff-Monroe houses. block of residential sites was created.
It was here that General Shurtleff built the first of his three houses in 1866, perhaps Oberlin's most impressive Italianate house. James Monroe purchased it in 1870 upon 1600-1699 1400-1499 1700-1799 Unknown ART PHILOSOPHY INVENTION BUILDER/ARCHITECT PERIOD President Lincoln. In 1866, he turned down an opportunity to succeed his father-in-law, Charles G. LAW SCULPTURE AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION INDUSTRY LITERATURE ings. Among his students was Charles M. Hall, who discovered the electrolytic process for manufacturing _TRANSPORTATION XMILITARY Congregational Church. At the same time, a new street known as College Place was opened and a choice MUSIC pleted it. He lived here for over forty years until his death in 1926. The house was occupied by the citizens.
James Monroe was a longtime professor at Oberlin College who distinguished himself in poli- Congress. From 1862-1870, Monroe served as U.S. Consul at Rio de Janiero, under appointment by PREHISTORIC Professor Jewett purchased the unfinished house from Rev. Reuben Hatch in 1884 for $6,000 and com- aluminum shortly after graduation from Oberlin College.General Giles W.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 79001887, 25 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.
Block
