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
“The Emanuel Lutheran Church of Montra is a historic church in Jackson Township, Shelby County, Ohio, United States. Located in the unincorporated community of Montra, north-northeast of the county seat of Sidney, it is the congregation's second building.”
Wikipedia article Emanuel Lutheran Church of Montra, CC BY-SA 4.0.
one of 19 National Register listings in Shelby County · listed in 1982 · category: Building · one of 1 National Historic Landmarks in Shelby County.
National Register reference number.82003640- 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
13,758 words
The chapter on Jackson Township in History of Shelby County, Ohio, published 1883 names Montra. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
We, the undersigned, proprietors of the town of Montra, do hereby give, grant, and donate all the streets, lanes, and alleys designated on town plat of Montra as public highways for the use and benefit of said town of Montra.
The business and professional interests are represented as follows: Two general supply stores, by John Iseman and J. C. Elliott. One pump factory, erected in 1875, and since operated by J. C. Heintz. One steam saw-mill, erected in 18G3 by George Heintz, and now owned by Ailes &- Co. One hotel, owned and managed by N. B. Akers. One shoe shop, by Wm. Martz. One blacksmith and wagon shop, by Butchinhart and Heislon. One retail liquor store, by Michael Zwiebel. One school-house. Two churches, Lutheran and Methodist Episcopal ; and one resident physican, Dr. Foreman. The town, of course, took its w hole growth after 1849. At that time a few log cabins alone indicated the existence of the village. The first store was opened in a cabin, by one of the Mahurens, who sometimes carried his goods on foot from Port Jefferson. He was also the first post-master at Montra, and mailcarrier to Port Jefferson. For -four or five years he continued this business, as also that of cooperage and an ashery.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 155 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Emanuel Lutheran Church of Montra between 1897 and
1970: 132 Animalia, 16 Fungi, 6 Plantae, 1 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by Arden R. Gaufin, C. Clark, C. Clark & R. Rhoades 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
Montra, the town this property stands in, in 2 storm reports between 2013 and 2017: 1 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind.
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.
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
1,195 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
In 1923 a basement was dug, a new coursed rock-faced foundation was CONDITION UNEXPOSED DETERIORATED RUINS shingled spire. FAIR CHECK ONE GOOD the raking cornice flush with the front facade.The lourvered belfry with the population of fewer than a hundred people. the surrounding farmland.It is located on the east side of a small village circular stained glass windows were also installed at this time. X.EXCELLENT This picturesque country church sits next to a cemetery and overlooks The square pedestal rises above the ridge with its surface cutting through laid and the church was moved down the hill to its present site.The semi- The outstanding feature of this 1873 frame hamlet church is its three level articulation of the central bell tower with spire, installed in 1899.
supports an eight sided louvered drum that serves as a base for the AREAS OF
Statement of significance
To these settlers from Germany and Alsace-Lorraine, France, religion today, a focal point in their community. 1700-1799 LAW ART PERIOD SIGNIFICANCE ECONOMICS ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC BUILDER/ARCHITECT SCIENCE ARCHITECTURE AGRICULTURE XRELIGION MILITARY CONSERVATION PREHISTORIC held until the present church was completed.
_COMMUNICATIONS _TRANSPORTATION LITERATURE INDUSTRY this area.It is architectually significant as one of the finest frame early.house of worship for the German Lutheran emigrants who settled in To the descendents of those early settlers, this church remains room in Montra until the fall of 1865 and the dedication of their first _ENGINEERING _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT 1600-1699 INVENTION THEATER The 1873 frame church in Montra is historically significant as an _COMMERCE was of utmost importance in their daily lives.The society was organ- is the only one eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. _PHILOSOPHY rural churches remaining from the 1870s in Shelby County.In April 1980, X1800-1899 _SCULPTURE _EDUCATION 1873 _1900- -1400-1499 _COMMUNITY PLANNING burned to the ground.
The rescued benches, altar pulpit, and other church. During a funeral in 1871, the roof caught fire and the church Lutheran Church is the most significant building remaining in Montra and articles were moved into the vacant school house where services were an intensive survey was completed in Montra concluding that the Emanuel - ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC Unknoun
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 82003640, 10 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
5 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.
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