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Photograph of Ada Pennsylvania Station and Railroad Park
Photograph by Nyttend, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Ada Pennsylvania Station and Railroad Park

Built in 1887 in the Stick style. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. 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

“Ada is a historic train station in Ada, Ohio, United States. Built in 1887 by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 as the Ada Pennsylvania Station and Railroad Park.”

Wikipedia article Ada station, CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 3 National Register listings in Hardin County · listed in 1998 · category: Building · built in 1887, Stick style, by Pennsylvania Railroad.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · 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, 1 site, 1 object as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 112 E. Cntral Ave., Ada, 45810
  • When was it listed? 1998-08-07
  • Category. building
  • Township. Liberty township
  • When was it built? 1887
  • Architectural style. Stick style
  • Architect. Pennsylvania Railroad
  • National Register reference number. 98001014 - 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

24,044 words

The chapter on Liberty Township in The History of Hardin County, Ohio, published 1883 names Ada. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

Presbyterian Church of Ada. - This is the oldest church organization in this part of the county, and is, in one sense, a mother to many of the other churches, they being formed and organized within the walls of her church edifice. This society was organized August 21, 1841, in Huntersville, by Bev. Thomas B. Clark, with the following constituent members: Isaac Mathews, Nancy Mathews, James M. Nelson, Susanna Nelson and James Hamilton, who were received upon certificates from the Kenton Church, and Thomas Irwin, John McClure, Bobert Hyndman and Jackson Mathews by examination, with Isaac Mathews and James M. Nelson chosen Elders. The society continued to hold its services at Huntersville for about fourteen years, when it was removed to the town of Ada - then called Johntown - where its services were held in the schoolhouse, but was still known as the Huntersville Church. On April 11, 18G0, at a meeting of the Findlay Presbytery, held at Mount Blanchard, it was changed to the Johnstown Church, and was thus known and recognized until, on April 22, 1868, its name was changed to the Ada Church, by which name it has since been known. On January 7, 1801, the following persons were chosen as a Building Committee, to take charge of the work of erecting a church edifice, viz., James M. Nelson, Bobert Hyndman, Thomas Irwin, John H. Mustard and

Passage source: The History of Hardin County, Ohio, published 1883.

J. A. Meeks, Mr. Edgar, John Kelly, C. K. Lehman and Z. B. Campbell, who is the present pastor, and is serving in his third year as such. The | Elders have been Isaac Mathews, James M. Nelson, Robert Hyndman, | Elihu Mathews, John W. Nelson, John Dobbins, Alexander Sanderson, | Alvin S. Nelson, Dr. I. C. McGinnis and D. G. Kemp. In February, 1883, the church was duly made an incc>rporate body, according to the laws of I Ohio. The present membership is 150. Present Trustees, D. G. Kemp, j I. C. McGinnis, A. C. Dobbins, George Epley and P. W. Ream. A union Sabbath school was early established in the schoolhouse, and was carried on for some time by non-church members. After the building of the abovementioned church, its meetings were removed frdm the schoolhouse to the church, and became a large and interesting Sabbath school. After the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ada, they established a Sabbath school, after which the union school continued for a short time and was disbanded. Then this church organized a Sabbath school of their own, which has since continued, and is now a very flourishing and interesting school, with an average attendance of about a hundred and fifty, with D. G. Kemp as Superintendent.

Passage source: The History of Hardin County, 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 Liberty Township - 24,044 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 308 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 308 specimens collected within 10 miles of Ada Pennsylvania Station and Railroad Park between 1885 and 1973: 200 Protozoa, 64 Animalia, 33 Plantae, 10 Fungi, 1 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A. P. Morgan, A. P. 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.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of unnamed1942?
Specimen of Corethromyces platensis Thaxt.Corethromyces platensis Thaxt.1942?
Specimen of Lestes dryas Kirby, 1890Lestes dryas Kirby, 18901943H. PriceBlanchard Township, Haley's Pond
A photograph of the species Bovistella radicata, not of this specimenBovistella radicata (Durieu & Mont.) Pat.1885A. P. MorganPreston
A photograph of the species Gloeophyllum trabeum, not of this specimenGloeophyllum trabeum (Pers.) Murrill1886A. P. MorganPreston
A photograph of the species Craterium leucocephalum, not of this specimenCraterium leucocephalum (Pers. ex J.F.Gmel.) Ditmar, 18131888Morgan, A. P.Ohio: Preston
A photograph of the species Diderma floriforme, not of this specimenDiderma floriforme (Bull.) Pers., 17941888not recordedOhio: Preston
A photograph of the species Calonema aureum, not of this specimenCalonema aureum Morgan, 18931889Morgan, A. P.; Preston, O.
Tapesia derelicta Morgan1889A. P. MorganPreston
Metatrichia vesparia (Batsch) Nann.-Bremek. ex G.W.Martin & Alexop., 19691890Morgan, A. P.; Preston,O.
Physarum serpula Morgan, 18961892Morgan A. P.United States-- Ohio, Preston
Trichia favoginea (Batsch) Pers., 17941892Morgan, A. P.Ohio: Preston

All 308 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Storms near this property

35 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ada, the town this property stands in, in 35 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 24 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 3 flood, 1 flash flood. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
November 2002Thunderstorm WindAda$50,000Four outbuildings were damaged and a barn was destroyed.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindAda$50,000A television tower was blown over, a roof damaged, and trees and power poles were downed.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindAda$10,000Numerous trees were downed throughout the county, particularly near Ada.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindAda$10,000Two homes near the intersection of US Route 68 and State Route 81 sustained damage. One of the houses had its chimney blown off. The second house had roof tiles blown off of its garage. Several large tree limbs were downed.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindAda$5,000A barn roof was damaged.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindAda$5,000A semitruck was overturned and sustained minor damage. Two trees were also knocked down.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindAda$5,000Several trees were knocked down between McGuffy and Foraker. Also, .75 inch diameter hail occurred 4 miles southeast of Ada.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindAda$5,000Trees and power lines downed.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindAda$5,000Several large tree limbs downed.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindAda$4,000A few trees were downed.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindAda$4,000Several trees were knocked down.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindAda$3,000Trees and power lines were reported down due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindAda$3,000Several trees were reported down due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindAda$3,000A couple of trees were knocked down along State Route 235.
April 2003Thunderstorm WindAda$3,000A few trees were downed.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindAda$3,000Numerous large limbs down.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindAda$3,000Trees downed.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindAda$2,000A couple of trees were downed in Ada.
April 2023Thunderstorm WindAda$1,000A large tree was downed.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindAda$1,000A 30 inch diameter tree split about six feet from the base.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindAda$1,000Large tree branches were downed due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindAda$1,000Trees were reported down due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
June 2007HailAda$1,000One tree was also knocked down on the Ohio Northern University campus.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindAda$250Several large branches were downed in the Ada area.
May 2020FloodAda-A few roads were closed due to high water in the Ada area.
July 2017FloodAda-High water was reported on State Route 81.
June 2015FloodAda-A street in Ada had high water over it. In addition, some basements had water in them.
July 2015Flash FloodAda-Rising water resulted in a water rescue on Lincoln Avenue and another one near the Ohio Northern University library.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindAda-The spotter estimated the speed of the wind gust.
July 2023HailAda-no account filed
July 2017HailAda-no account filed
July 2017HailAda-no account filed
May 2010HailAda-no account filed
May 2010HailAda-no account filed
June 2009HailAda-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Hardin County

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

7,204 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.

Statement of significance

Applicable National Register Criteria Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) for National Register listing.) x A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. x C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and Period of Significance distinguishable entity whose components lack - D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

Criteria Considerations Significant Dates (Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.) -A owned by a religious institution or used for Significant Person - B removed from its original location. (Complete if Criterion Bis marked above) - C a birthplace or grave. Cultural Affiliation - E a reconstructed building, object, or structure. - F a commemorative property. - G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years. Narrative Statement of Significance 9.

The whole case file for this property - 7,204 words, 77 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 98001014, 77 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 98001014 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Hardin CountyAll 3 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.
  • 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.