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Photograph of Hotel Harding
Photograph by Nyttend, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Hotel Harding

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. 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

one of 14 National Register listings in Marion County · listed in 1980 · category: Building · one of 1 National Historic Landmarks in Marion County.

Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 267 W. Center St., Marion, 43302
  • When was it listed? 1980-03-11
  • Category. building
  • Township. Marion township
  • National Register reference number. 80003154 - 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

123,179 words

The chapter on Marion Township in The History of Marion County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Townships, Towns, Churches, Schools, Etc; General and Local Statistics; Military Record; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio, published 1883 names Marion. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

Marion Township was originally covered with fine timber, except the low grounds, or swales, which were covered with grass, and would be so covered to this day were it not for the art of drainage, which the agricultural community have so assiduously cultivated of late years, with the hope that soon these low grounds will become permanently more fertile and profitable than the uplands. As a single tract of land, this township is the highest between Columbus and Toledo, according to the railroad survey, and is drained by natural water-courses toward all points of the compass except eastward, and in that direction ditching has been done to so great an extent within a few years that the land is, as it were, being raised up many feet above water level.

Passage source: The History of Marion County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Townships, Towns, Churches, Schools, Etc; General and Local Statistics; Military Record; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio, published 1883.

An inexhaustible supply of good building stone exists in this township, and even within the corporate limits of Marion Village, for an account of which see geology in the first chapter, and a sketch of the quarries in the chapter on Marion.

Passage source: The History of Marion County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Townships, Towns, Churches, Schools, Etc; General and Local Statistics; Military Record; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio, published 1883.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Marion Township - 123,179 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

6 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Hotel Harding between 2002 and 2002, burning about 2 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
Smoking2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Arson/incendiarism2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
4 August 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresOhio State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
7 July 2002Arson/incendiarismunder an acreOhio State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
6 July 2002Smokingunder an acreOhio State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
12 July 2002Smokingunder an acreOhio State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
1 July 2002Arson/incendiarismunder an acreOhio State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
19 November 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreOhio State Fire Marshal's Officenot named

Every fire recorded in Marion County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 332 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 332 specimens collected within 10 miles of Hotel Harding between 1892 and 1975: 320 Animalia, 8 Fungi, 4 Plantae. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. Ogilvie, Acker, G., Baumgartner, L. 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.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Catocala habilis Grote, 1872Catocala habilis Grote, 18721959not recordedCamp Owens
Specimen of Elasmus albizziae Burks, 1965Elasmus albizziae Burks, 19651964J. Peacock[Not Stated]
A photograph of the species Galium circaezans, not of this specimenGalium circaezans Michx.1892E E BogueProspect
A photograph of the species Fusarium culmorum, not of this specimenFusarium culmorum (Wm.G.Sm.) Sacc.1919Lewis H. L.Marion
A photograph of the species Helminthosporium teres, not of this specimenHelminthosporium teres Sacc.1919MCFARLAND F. T.Marion
A photograph of the species Puccinia graminis, not of this specimenPuccinia graminis Pers.1919MCFARLAND F. T.Prospect
A photograph of the species Puccinia rubigo-vera, not of this specimenPuccinia rubigo-vera var. tritici (Erikss.) Carleton1919MCFARLAND F. T.Marion
A photograph of the species Photinus pyralis, not of this specimenPhotinus pyralis (Linnaeus, 1767)1923not recordedMarion
A photograph of the species Rallus limicola, not of this specimenRallus limicola limicola Vieillot, 18191923Lyle D. MillerClaridon, Lake Aquilla
A photograph of the species Buteo jamaicensis, not of this specimenButeo jamaicensis borealis (Gmelin, 1788)1924Lyle D. MillerClaridon
A photograph of the species Acris crepitans, not of this specimenAcris crepitans Baird, 18541929Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard)Grand Twp: along Tymochtee Cr., Marion Co., Ohio
A photograph of the species Campostoma anomalum, not of this specimenCampostoma anomalum anomalum1929Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert)Tymochtee Creek, within Montgomery township, near Meeker, Montgomery township

All 332 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Hotel Harding: 3 producers, 2 past producers, 1 plant. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Fleming Const. Co Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
J.M. Hamilton and Sons Co.Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
J.M. Hamilton and Sons QuarryLimestone, GeneralPast ProducerSedimentary
Marion PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenPlant
Marion Plant QuarryLimestone, GeneralPast ProducerSedimentary
Ri Alto PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Marion County

Storms near this property

60 of 120 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Marion, the town this property stands in, in 120 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 68 thunderstorm wind, 48 hail, 3 tornado, 1 flood. The reports record 1 death and 3 injuries. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2007Thunderstorm WindMarion1 killed, $1,300,000A severe thunderstorm moved into Marion around 4:10 pm. Numerous trees, large limbs, utility poles and power lines came down during the storm. Reports indicate that many trees fell onto homes, garages and cars throughout the city. One of the houses was damaged enough to be considered destroyed. Between 30 and 35 utility poles had to be replaced because of trees and large limbs falling onto them. One house had three trees fall onto it causing extensive damage. A house in Marion that was being remodeled sustained damage by trees. Three people working on the house quickly took shelter on a porch during the storm, but were injuried when a tree fell onto the roof of the porch and collapsed the roof. A twenty-two year old girl was killed when a large tree limb fell onto the car while she was driving. A passenger in the vehicle survived with injuries. ||Additional support was called in to help clean up in Marion. Electric companies and municipal agencies coordinated to help clean up debris. Estimated costs for clean up in Marion were approximately $91 thousand. 369 loads of debris were cleaned up throughout the city.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindMarion3 hurt, $3,000no account filed
August 1998Tornado (F0)Marion$300,000A weak tornado touched down about four miles west of Marion and remained on the ground for a short time. A garage and two barns were destroyed and a large shed was badly damaged. Numerous trees and power lines were downed and some minor damage occurred to several homes in the area. Most of the damage appeared to be caused by an intense microburst, which accompanied the tornado. Winds were estimated at 80 to 90 miles per hour.
June 2013HailMarion$250,000Ping pong ball to tennis ball sized hail was observed. Damage to homes, vehicles and crops was reported.
June 2013HailMarion$100,000Golf ball sized hail was reported. Damage to crops and vehicles was reported.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindMarion$75,000Thunderstorm winds tore off a large section of roofing from a building on North Main Street. A large tree nearby was also toppled.
July 1997Tornado (F0)Marion$75,000no account filed
June 2013HailMarion$50,000Half dollar to ping pong sized hail was observed. Some minor vehicle damage was reported.
April 2018Thunderstorm WindMarion$35,000Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and large limbs across the southeastern corner of Marion County. A home in the City of Marion was damaged by a fallen tree. At least two vehicles were damaged by fallen trees. Scattered power outages were reported.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindMarion$35,000Thunderstorm winds leveled a barn and damaged another building just outside of Marion.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindMarion$25,000Thunderstorm winds downed many trees across the county.
August 2007FloodMarion$25,000After recent heavy rains throughout the area over the past few days, another round of heavy rain moved through the area during the morning hours of the 22nd. With recent rainfall already saturating the ground and bringing streams and rivers to capacity, this additional rainfall led to flooding throughout northeastern Marion County. Tully, Scott, Claridon, and Richland Townships were most affected with many roads closed because of flooding. The water did not recede until the midday hours of the 23rd.
November 1996Thunderstorm WindMarion$25,000no account filed
October 1999Thunderstorm WindMarion$20,000Several power poles were downed.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindMarion$15,000Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees and overturned a camper trailer.
April 2003Thunderstorm WindMarion$15,000Thunderstorm winds downed two large trees in Marion. One of the limbs damaged the roof of a house.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindMarion$15,000Thunderstorm winds downed several trees.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindMarion$12,000Thunderstorm winds toppled four utility poles near Marion.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindMarion$12,000Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees and several large limbs west of Marion.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000A tree fell onto a car.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Thunderstorm winds snapped the top off of a utility pole.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and large limbs.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Thunderstorm winds snapped a power pole.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Numerous trees and power lines reported down around Marion.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees seven miles west of Marion.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees.
April 2002HailMarion$10,000Quarter size hail was reported.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Thunderstorm winds downed one tree and one power pole.
November 2002Tornado (F0)Marion$10,000A small tornado touched down in rural Marion County about five miles north of Marion near the intersection of State Route 4 and U.S. Highway 23. The tornado was on the ground for only a couple hundred feet and caused no damage other than downing several trees.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Numerous power poles were downed.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindMarion$10,000Trees were downed. One fell on a truck.
October 2013Thunderstorm WindMarion$6,000Thunderstorm winds downed at least four trees in Marion.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindMarion$6,000Thunderstorm winds downed one tree and several large limbs four miles west of Marion.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Tree downed onto house in Marion.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Several trees and power lines were blown down. This report was from Facebook.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000The ASOS at the Marion Airport measured a 51 knot wind gust from a thunderstorm. Several trees were also blown down in Caledonia in eastern Marion County.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree branches.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Numerous trees and large limbs were reported down from thunderstorm winds. Also, railroad gate crossing bars were broken due to severe thunderstorm winds.
November 2002HailMarion$5,000Quarter size hail was observed north of Marion.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed a couple trees south of Marion and a large limb near Green Camp..
September 2002Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed a few large tree limbs.
November 2000Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed two large trees near Marion.
November 1998Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Numerous large tree limbs were downed.
April 1995Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Trees and large limbs were downed, some on power lines.
May 1994Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Trees were downed, some across roads.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Trees were downed, some on power lines and across roads.
April 1994Thunderstorm WindMarion$5,000Trees down, some on power lines, accompanied by large hail.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindMarion$3,600Three power poles snapped at the intersection of Richland Road and Riviera Drive on the southeast side of Marion. Damage was caused by a line of rain showers.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindMarion$3,000Thunderstorm winds estimated to be at least 60 mph downed several large tree limbs.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindMarion$3,000Thunderstorm winds downed a couple trees.
January 2008Thunderstorm WindMarion$3,000Two trees were reported down, one on the north side of the city and another on the south side of Marion.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindMarion$3,000Thunderstorm winds downed a few large tree limbs.
August 1996Thunderstorm WindMarion$3,000no account filed
September 2015Thunderstorm WindMarion$2,000Law enforcement reported three trees brought down by thunderstorm winds in Marion.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindMarion$2,000Several large limbs were reported down.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindMarion$2,000A few large limbs were reported down.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindMarion$2,000A few large limbs were reported down.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindMarion$2,000A few large limbs were reported down.
July 2002HailMarion$2,000Dime size hail was observed just east of Marion.

Every storm recorded in Marion County

Newspapers printed here

0 digitised pages

1 paper published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 0 issues, 0 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

NewspaperPublished
The Marion Daily Mirror1892 to 1912

Map coverage status

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

1,921 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

The first, second, third, and eighth floors of the primary elevations show highly- skilled, hand-crafted cut stone plinth, columns, spandrels, window surrounds, capitals, The floor is of Tennessee marble, the same marble originally used for the front desk ceiling and wall, and the floors are polished terrazzo. The remainder of the building is a one-story food storage/warehouse was added on the southwest corner, and the roof area Condition moved ceilings.

unexposed deteriorated ruins unaltered broken segmented pediment decorative trim.All windows and doors are single glazed wood lockers and restrooms were added over the two-story stair shaft on the southeast corner, pediment and segmented pediment decorative trim while the main entry double doors have and decorated parapet entablatures.First-floor windows and secondary doors are set in double-hung. Third-floor windows are further emphasized with a decorative wrought iron predominately bedroom/bath areas that originally had carpeted floors and plaster walls and frame building was built in l924.It is faced with dark brown brick in running bond pattern.

The building has had three additions since its initial construction.Employee with windows on the first and second floors casement (opening to the inside) and all others main lobby and has the same features as the first floor plus an ornate wrought iron railing gold finish.The dining room and ballroom also have the ornamental plaster moldings on the between the columns.Originally, much of the ornamentation was highlighted with an antique Check one original site The Hotel Harding is an excellent example of the Renaissance Revival style of to the north of the ballroom on the east was enclosed for expanded ballroom space. railing that features a singular 'H" logo that is pronounced throughout the building.

Read the complete 1,921-word case file.

Statement of significance

(in one paragraph) Marion Steam Shovel Company) was used on this building when the foundation was dug. 1800-1899 kept a low profile, campaigning from the front porch of his home here to reflect his views an important part of the downtown plans. Charles Evans Hughes stayed here. The hotel opened on February 1,1924,with Dr.George T.Harding,the late President's at this time;the boom was caused by the expansion of both the Huber Manufacturing Company men stayed at King's Mansion"on Mt. Vernon Avenue, down the street from Harding's home. - art _ archeology-prehistoric _ community planning - agriculture X architecture Wengineeting and Marion Power Steam Shovel Company, and the first gas-electric power shovel (developed by President Harding's brother-in-law, R.T.

Lewis, helped form The New Hotel Co. to develop a new hotel to accommodate these visitors. William Earl Russ of Indianapolis, Indiana was selected Ground was broken May 3, 1922 by B.J. Gonssowski, excavators from Bucyrus, Ohio, using the first gas-electric power shovel developed father, the first to register. An estimated 7000 people attended the formal opening banquet Washington, D.C. during Harding's term of office. boutiques, restaurants, and a major commercial center. President Harding always maintained close commerce 19 of that used in the grand hotels of the early twentieth century. The facade treatment with make this a good example of this style, The interior lobby treatment with marble floors owned the Marion Steam Shovel Co. The hotel cost $750,000 to build.

hotel completed, Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover and Supreme Court Justice for Marion.

Read the complete 1,921-word case file.

The whole case file for this property - 1,921 words, 20 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 80003154, 20 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.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Marion County Telephone Company Building0.2 miles2007
Palace Theater0.3 miles1976
Old US Post Office0.3 miles1990
Marion County Courthouse0.5 miles1974
Harding, Warren G., House0.6 miles1966
King, George W., Mansion--Etowah0.7 miles1995

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 80003154 in Record Group 79.
Marion CountyAll 14 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • 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.