Photograph of H.G. Blake House — Photograph by Duds98, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Blake, H. G., House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. 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

“1 save while occupying the position of Probate Judge. At the close of his second term in the latter position, he was again elected to the superintendency of the Medina Public Schools, which he held until he resigned to accept a similar appointment at Ravenna, Ohio.”
History of Medina County and Ohio, Containing a History of the State of Ohio, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time ... a History of Medina County, Giving an Account of Its Aboriginal Inhabitants ... Pioneer Incidents, Its Growth, Its Improvements, Organization of the County ... Biographical Sketches; Portraits of Some of the Early Settlers and Prominent Men, Etc., Etc. .. (1881). Machine-read text.

one of 27 National Register listings in Medina County · listed in 1982 · category: Building.

Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 2 sitess, 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 314 E. Washington St., Medina, 44256
When was it listed? 1982-09-30
Category. building
Township. Medina City township
Architectural style. Greek Revival architecture
National Register reference number. 82003612 - 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

25,890 words

The chapter on Medina City Township in Pioneer History of Medina County, published 1861 names Medina. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

Medina was surveyed into lots, eighty-one in number, in 1810. The first cabin was erected by a Mr. Hinman and brothers on lot Twenty-two. They chopped about three acres, remained a short time, and for fear of the Indians left and never returned; they were said to have been from Aurora. Zenas Hamilton was the first actual settler. He was born in Danbury, Connecticut, November 6, 1781, removed from there to Harpersfield, New York, remained there one year and a half, and as he had previously made a purchase of some land in Medina, he accordingly pursued his journey and arrived with his family October 3, 1814, and went into the lone cabin aforesaid, being hardly a shelter for them until he could roll up another near by, on lot Twenty-two, being a part of his purchase. Mr. Hamilton, with his family of seven or eight in number, were alone for a year and a half, before any other family arrived. They had to fare as best they could. Sometimes they would put corn into a small leathern bag and pound upon the head of an axe, and again shell out wheat and rye by hand and boil it and supply their wants until they could get from the mill twenty or more miles distant. Their trials and privations must be experienced to be realized. Mr. Hamilton had the good fortune to kill a bear almost the first thing after his arrival. During the first few years he killed fifteen bears, besides a great number of deer and turkies.

Passage source: Pioneer History of Medina County, published 1861.

The day following, Mr. Strong and party, with myself, I think all on foot, with such things as were absolutely necessary, started for Strongsville, where we arrived in season to build a good camp fire, and spent the night in a most primitive manner. The day after we spent, in rain and snow, in finding our way to Timothy Doan's in Columbia, where provisions were procured. We returned and spent several days in running lines ; but finding that whenever I selected a lot it was reserved, I made the best excuse I could, and left for Mr. Doan's, and soon became acquainted with Captain Seymour, who volunteered to show me the Mill Site, where he and Mr. Doan would soon erect Mills in the Township of Medina. Accordingly the Captain, with tin cup, rifle., and most formidable butcher knife, led the way, and, as if by instinct, found his way some ten or eleven miles through a dense forest. After viewing the Mill Site, we descended the branch of Kocky River, as far as lot fifty-two, and after some examination, found our way to Zenas Hamilton, where we spent the night. In the morning the Beach Tree, conspicuous as the seat of justice of Medina county, was visited ; and if size gives importance, this tree was truly important. It stood sume forty or fifty feet a little north of east in front of the old Court House. At this time about the- 20th of March, 1816, Zenas Hamilton was the only inhabitant in the township. While I was getting materials together on lot fifty-two for a cabin, James Palmer, Chamberlin and Marsh arrived and assisted me in putting up my cabin, being the third in the township ; this must have been in the fore part of April, 1816. I cut and cleared, without team, three acres where David Nettleton's house now stands, and planted it with corn, and left in care of Joab Marsh. The last of May, 1816, I started for Boston, and returned in October of the same year. During my absence, several cabins were erected. In April, 1816, Mr. Hulet, in the west part of Brunswick, was, after Z. Hamilton, my nearest neighbor in that direction,, and Mr. Mott east on the old Smith road, each about seven miles from my cabin. Our nearest post-office was Cleveland. Pork was then thirty dollars per barrel, tea one dollar and fifty cents poi*pound, wheat one dollar and fifty cents per bushel, corn and potatoes one dollar per bushel each, "tobacco and sole leather fifty cents per pound, eight-penny nails twentyfive cents per pound, &c.

Passage source: Pioneer History of Medina County, published 1861.

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 Medina City Township - 25,890 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 337 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 337 specimens collected within 10 miles of Blake, H. G., House between 1884 and 1975: 298 Animalia, 33 Plantae, 5 Fungi, 1 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. D. Huryn, A. Roberts, Ashcroft, G.B.; O. Berea 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.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Contopus virens (Linnaeus, 1766)	1890	not recorded
Camptosorus rhizophyllus (L.) Link	1894	Watson, J.R.	Medina Co.
Nesaea verticillata (L.) Kunth	1896	Watson,J.R. s.n. [1896-08]	[label: North Ohio Flora. J.R. Watson, Berea, O.] Liverpool, Medina Co. [Medina County]
Sciurus niger Linnaeus, 1758	1884	unknown	Medina
Halictus confusus confusus	1885	H. E. Summers	Medina
Lilium canadense L.	1888	E. Barrick	Chatham
Plantago cordata Lam.	1891	F. E. Lloyd	Selsville, north of Columbus
Mougeotia genuflexa (Roth) C.Agardh	1896	F. D. Kelsey	Plum Creek
Aquilegia canadensis L.	1897	Ashcroft,G.B. s.n. [1897-05]	[label: Flora of the Western Reserve] Medina O. [Ohio]
Asclepias tuberosa subsp. interior Woodson	1897	Ashcroft, G.B.; O. Berea	The Western Reserve. Brunswick
Culicoides guttipennis (Coquillett, 1901)	1897	J. Hine	Medina
Euphorbia commutata Engelm. ex A.Gray	1897	G. B. Ashcroft	Lester

All 337 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Blake, H. G., House: 1 producer. 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.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Burbank Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Medina County

Storms near this property

60 of 103 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Medina, the town this property stands in, in 103 storm reports between 1993 and 2023: 50 thunderstorm wind, 47 hail, 2 flash flood, 2 tornado. The reports record 2 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
May 2005	Lightning	Medina	1 hurt	A 15 year old girl was struck by lightning while walking across a parking lot at school. The girl suffered extensive injuries and was hospitalized for several weeks. A house nearby was also struck by lightning. The resulting fire caused $100,000 damage to the house.
July 1999	Lightning	Medina	1 hurt	A 38 year old male construction worker was struck by lightning while working outside. The man was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
August 2005	Tornado (F1)	Medina	$175,000	Twin F1 tornadoes touched down north of the city of Medina in Medina Township around 4:20 PM. The tornadoes touched down on Marks Road about a half a mile north of Fenn Road. The tornadoes tracked east on the ground for about one hundred yards. The damage path was about seventy-five feet wide. A pole barn used as a horse arena was leveled. Another barn nearby suffered serious damage to the roof, and the house on the property also received substantial damage. Several other homes in the area sustained minor to serious structural damage with a couple sheds destroyed by the tornadoes. Debris was scattered for several hundred yards around the path of the tornadoes. No injuries to humans or animals were reported from these tornadoes.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$100,000	A thunderstorm down burst caused a swath of damage north of the City of Medina. Dozens of trees and large limbs were downed along the damage path which was up to two miles in length. A couple roads had to be closed because of the fallen trees and there were scattered power outages in the area.
August 2011	Hail	Medina	$75,000	Nickel to hen egg sized hail was observed. Many vehicles were damaged by the hail.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$75,000	As the line of severe thunderstorms moved through the area, numerous trees, large limbs, and power lines were reported down throughout the county by straightline winds.
August 1998	Flash Flood	Medina	$75,000	Heavy thunderstorm rain caused flooding of basements, businesses and roads. Many roads had up to 12 inches of water on them. Cottages were flooded at Chippewa Lake.
May 2011	Hail	Medina	$50,000	Thunderstorms produced a swath of quarter to ping pong ball size hail. Numerous vehicles in the area were damaged as a result of the large hail.
September 1996	Flash Flood	Medina	$50,000	no account filed
October 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$30,000	Two trees downed near the intersection of Interstate 71 and State Route 18. One of the trees landed on a moving vehicle. The occupants of the car were uninjured.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$25,000	A 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust was measured. Numerous trees and large limbs were downed in and around Medina.
August 1997	Tornado (F0)	Medina	$20,000	A tornado touched down in Medina Township and remained on the ground for only a short time. Numerous trees were downed. A downburst may have accompanied the tornado and contributed to the damage.
November 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$15,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees across the county.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$15,000	Thunderstorm winds downed five trees in Medina Township.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$15,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several trees in Medina and Montville Township.
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$12,000	Two large trees were reported down, along with numerous power lines.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$10,000	There was numerous large trees and tree branches blown down around Wadsworth. There was at least one tree on a house which caused damage.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$10,000	The public reported a large tree down and siding ripped from the side of a house on the southwest side of Medina.
July 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds toppled at least three trees and flattened some corn in a field.
July 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few large trees in Litchfield.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$10,000	Several trees and large limbs down from thunderstorm winds.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees in Medina.
April 2002	Hail	Medina	$10,000	Dime to quarter size hail was reported.
May 2002	Hail	Medina	$10,000	Nickel size hail was observed between Medina and Hinckley.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several large trees northeast of Medina in Granger Township.
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees.
June 2006	Hail	Medina	$6,000	Quarter size hail was observed.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$6,000	A few trees were reported down from severe thunderstorm winds.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs.
May 2011	Hail	Medina	$5,000	Thunderstorms produced quarter sized hail.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees.
August 2009	Hail	Medina	$5,000	Quarter size hail was observed.
June 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds downed one tree and a few large limbs.
April 2002	Hail	Medina	$5,000	Dime size hail was reported.
April 2002	Hail	Medina	$5,000	Dime size hail was reported four miles east of Medina.
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds were estimated at 65 mph. Two trees were knocked down.
September 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$5,000	Two trees downed on the southwest side of Medina.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$5,000	Several trees downed in Medina.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$5,000	Trees and power lines were also downed at Seville and Hinckley.
March 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$4,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees.
August 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$4,000	Many large limbs were reported down.
May 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$4,000	A few trees were reported down.
June 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$3,000	Trees were downed, some on power lines.
July 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$2,000	A trained spotter estimated thunderstorm winds at 60 mph. A 3 foot diameter tree was toppled.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$2,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a couple large tree limbs.
September 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$2,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a couple of large trees.
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$2,000	Several trees were reported down.
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$2,000	A few trees were reported down.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$2,000	Thunderstorm winds downed two trees.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$2,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a couple large tree limbs.
April 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$2,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a few tree limbs.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$2,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree limb southeast of Medina and a tree in Wadsworth.
December 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$2,000	no account filed
August 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$1,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree.
March 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$1,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a tree.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$1,000	Thunderstorm winds downed some large tree limbs.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$1,000	Thunderstorm winds downed a tree.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	$1,000	A few large limbs were reported down.
April 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	-	Large tree downed in Medina and another large tree downed along Nichols Road just southeast of Weymouth.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Medina	-	Tree downed in Medina.

Every storm recorded in Medina 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.

Newspaper	Published
The Medina Sentinel	1888 to 1961

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

1,736 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

W. Boardman constructed this portion of the house. and less detailed, the floors are narrower pine, and the interior doors have a H. G. Blake owned the house from 1856 to 1861, during which time no clapboards within the pediments are notched, giving the effect of shingles. added a bathroom and bedroom upstairs. Condition ruins unexposed fair and returns accent the gable end. The doorway is distinctive, with wide molding, plan.The gabled roof has east and west pediments with full cornices.The Six-over-six windows continue.This addition extended the kitchen area and The original wing of this house is a Greek Revival structure built apparently This addition added two rooms on each floor.The interior moldings are narrower an entablature and side lights.
All windows are six-over-six with approximately Check one floor was later covered with hardwood.The doors on the second floor are have since been opened into one large parlor.At the south end of this parlor ular plan with the narrow end facing the front of the property.A wide cornice double cross and porcelain knobs. and the east gable is hipped. Six-over-six windows with shutters continue. beams and bark-covered logs as joists. However, only the original wing has a major changes were made.In 1873 Oliver C.Shepard bought the house.He The first consisted of the northern section of the west wing. It has a rectang- a 19th century grape arbor. The entire roof is slate.

Read the complete 1,736-word case file.

Statement of significance

/Architect Unknown Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) bers of the same family, all of whom have played active roles in the the Congressman, he was one of the city's leading citizens. During Blake's according to Elizabeth Blake McDowell, Blake's daughter, who often spoke From 1873 to 1896 the Oliver C. Shepard family lived in the house. Shepard of the O. C. Shepard family.
1800-1899 1500-1599 1400-1499 1700-1799 economics transportation communications industry theater engineering literature education Period humanitarian 1900- conservation sculpture because of its distinctive appearance, and although altered over the years, There is no reliable information concerning the apparent original builder, politics/government law The H.G.Blake house is significant because it demonstrates the progression commercial and social history of Medina. 8. Significance Germany in the 1870s and were leading merchants in the village.They West. The Shepards raised seven children.
Their daughter Mary, who married operated a shoe store for three generations, and Andrew Griesinger became is the only daughter of Christian and Mary Shepard Griesinger.Thus from -prehistoric He started this business in l87l after returning from a prospecting trip out ground railroad. Since 1873 there has been a continuity of residence by mem- residency, the house served as a station on the underground raliroad, icant because of the people who resided there and because of their role in 1873 to the present, the house has been occupied by members and descendants of architectural taste and how additions were made without altering the Christian the property in 1896,at which time she of her family's efforts to assist fugitive slaves.
military As founder of Medina's Old Phoenix National Bank anda United States _invention - archeology-prehistoric community planning - landscape architecture_ _ religion _ science X architecture - philosophy the house maintains its architectural integrity. Second, the house is signif- William W.

Read the complete 1,736-word case file.

The whole case file for this property - 1,736 words, 11 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 82003612, 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.

Property	Distance	Listed
Munson, Judge Albert, House	under 500 feet	1980
St. Paul's Episcopal Church	0.1 miles	1982
Medina County Courthouse	0.1 miles	1970
Medina Masonic Temple and Medina Theater	0.3 miles	2002
United States Post Office	0.3 miles	2019
Medina Farmers Exchange Co.	0.4 miles	2018

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 82003612 in Record Group 79.
Medina County	All 27 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.
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.