National Register reference number.96001618- 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
1912 to 1994
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
82 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19121994
The ground it stands on
38,759 words
The chapter on Hanover Township in History of Ashland County, Ohio, published 1880 names Loudonville. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
James Loudon Priest was born in Massachusetts, in 1769, and married Paulina Channey; he moved from Oneida county, Massachussetts, to Onondaga county, New York, and then to Crawfoid county, Pennsylvania. He came with a large family down the Ohio river in a dug-out canoe, and settled in Holmes county, on the Lake fork, about two miles from Loudonville, on the farm now owned by Jacob Schauweker. Slay 10, 1810, with Stephen Butters as his partner, he laid out the town plot of Loudonville; wrote all the first titles of the town lots, and the village was named in honor of him. He was a farmer and dealt extensively in real estate; was a prominent Free Mason and a Royal Arch Mason; was a Whig, and during the war or 1812, he built a fort on his farm, and kept guard there two years. He was an active member of the Baptist church. He died in 1822, at the old homestead, and was buried with Masonic honors. He was the father of fourteen children, of whom only two are living, viz: John, who married Barbara Workman, and lives in Ashland county; and Alonzo, who became the husband of Rhoda Clark, and lives in Holmes county.
John Priest, son of James Loudon Priest, was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, in 1807, and came to Ohio with his father in i'Sio, and settled in Holmes county. In 1 S3 5 he married Rebecca Workman, and in 1870 came to Ashland county. He is engaged in farming and stock dealing. In politics he is Republican. He is the father of eight ch'ldien, viz: Melissa, who became wife of B. E. See, and lives in Wood county; Elizabeth C, Normanda, wife of L. S. Culver, of Loudonviiie; Columbus D., who married Elizabeth McCrary and lives in Loudonville; Josephine, -who became the wife of James A. Hackett, and lives in Massillon; Morgan A , Ida M., and Agnes E.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 13 fires within 5 miles of City Hall and Opera House
between 2005 and 2020, burning about 21 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was 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
Smoking
4
Debris and open burning
3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
3
Power generation/transmission/distribution
1
Recreation and ceremony
1
Arson/incendiarism
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 551 specimens
collected within 10 miles of City Hall and Opera House between 1896 and 1975: 516 Animalia, 30 Plantae, 5 Fungi.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A C ALLEN, A.E. Daugherty, Auten, 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
2 workings within 5 miles of City Hall and Opera House: 1 past producer, 1 producer.
1 still produces. 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.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Loudonville, the town this property stands in, in 36 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 18 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 4 flash flood, 1 lightning.
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.
Severe thunderstorm winds downed trees, destroyed one garage and blew the roof off a barn. Another barn was blown down, killing some of the livestock inside. Crops were damaged.
Moderate rainfall fell over the Mohican Valley on Sunday May 9th. Rainfall amounts between 2 to 3 inches was reported between 6 am and 6 pm. The Black Fork reported flooding from well upstream in Richland County and again down in Loudonville where it meets the Mohican River. The Black Fork USGS gage at Loudonville exceeded flood stage on Sunday afternoon and reached moderate flood stage on the morning of the 10th, cresting at 11.3 feet. Flood waters inundated recreational campgrounds and liveries along the river. Due to the early season timing, there was limited population along the river, however damage was reported to numerous campers and some permanent structures.
Thunderstorm downburst winds estimated at 65 to 75 mph knocked down around two dozen trees in Mohican State Park. A distinct damage path approximately one quarter mile in length and 50 to 100 feet wide was observed. Most of the downed trees were 12 to 18 inches in diameter and were snapped near the ground.
Thunderstorms dumped two to three inches of rain on southern Ashland County in about an hour. The Mohican River went out its banks just west of Loudonville in Mohican State Park. A campground in the park had to be partially evacuated.
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.
Statement of significance
City Hall and Opera House Primary location of additional data: Period of Significance Cultural Affiliation Applicable National Register Criteria for National Register listing.) Counry and State 8. Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) Property is: Ashland County, Ohio Name of repository: (Enter categories from instructions) Previous documentation on file (NPS): N/A significant in our past. B Property is associated with the lives of persons within the past 50 years.
CFR 67) has been requested G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance a significant contribution to the broad patterns of distinguishable entity whose components lack (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one ormore continuation sheets.) Ashland County, Ohio - See continuation sheet (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) 11.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 96001618, 41 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
3 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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