National Register reference number.79001915- 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 56 fires within 5 miles of Blocksom-Rolls House
between 2002 and 2020, burning about 45 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
33
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
5
Equipment and vehicle use
5
Power generation/transmission/distribution
5
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 Blocksom-Rolls 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 Blocksom-Rolls 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
on the three-bay gable end are tall windows, double hung six-over-six, set on extended An 1890s photo indicates that an open frame porch, with machine sewn gingerbre once graced the front of the house. It has long-since been removed. additions, has been coated with a layer of asbestos protective covering, which, of course completely obscures the fine detail of the brick and stone on the house. Some of this covering is already falling off, and the present owners plan to remove it all in their restoration of the exterior of the building. The interior of the -Blocksom-Rolls House boats eight rooms and the above- panels, above the opening of the fireplace, depict the mythological character. ments in the house were made at Blocksom's Union Foundry.
This house is located on Eastman Street, built on a side hill overlooking down- UNEXPOSED CONDITION MOVED XALTERED DETERIORATED UNALTERED stead CHECK ONE RUINS _FAIR _EXCELLENT Interstate 70,Bethesda Hospital stood a short distance from the house. original,with paneled glass exterior wall.Two.one-story additions have been X.GOOD features a trabeated door with sidelights and transom of etched red glass. All of th on each floor. The east wall of the house differs slightly from the west in that of four windows, there are but two on the second level and an inset sunroom appa to the north gable end comparatively early in the house's-history. The first The only visable evidence of the porch is the concrete porch floor and matkings mentioned sunroom.
There is a large hallway opening from the main entrance, featuring a handsome straight stairway with a subdued oak balustrade: Five fire- The most outstanding feature of the interior is found in two cast iron fireplace facings. Mazeppa, tied naked to the back of a hourse.
The house was built between 1848 and 1850 by George Washinpton operator, and During G. W.Blocksom's children. Upon cksom Widney, the daughter the house passed out of the Blocksom family for the first tine The Blocksom-Rolls House stands today as a prime example of this transitional style of architecture in the City of Zanesville. 1600-1699 1500-1599 1400-1499 ART BUILDER/ARCHITECT PERIOD LAW SIGNIFICANCE ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE PREHISTORIC THEATER LITERATURE ARCHITECTURE MILITARY SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN _TRANSPORTATION _COMMUNICATIONS X1800-1899 period between _1700-1799 _COMMERCE _INDUSTRY .EDUCATION _ECONOMICS - RELIGION POLITICS/GOVERNMENT Mrs.Blocksom's death in 1904,the house passed to Alice a its 120-odd year life.
- ENGINEERING _MUSIC -_1900- ARCHEOLUGY-PREHISTORIC -COMMUNITY PLANNING flourishing of the Greek Revival and the Italianate achicectual.. second house in the city of Zanesville to have electricity, being at the Post Office, but left Zanesville to attend medical school in Cincinnati. ing his completion of school, Dr. Blocksom returned to his home town and practiced Eventually he entered the wholesale drug of G. W. Blocksom's brother, Horace. Mrs. Widney's husbass. Harvey, was a druggist daughter, Margaret, and her husband, Frank Rolls lived in the house with the the home was owned - EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT _PHILOSOPHY Upon Washington Blocksom wired about 19 Follov 9
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 79001915, 18 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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