{"nrhp_refnum":"09000172","name":"Town Pump of East Sparta, The","other_names":["Town Pump","Village Pump"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Jct. of Walnut St. and Main Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"East Sparta","county":"Stark County","state":"OH","lat":40.66666771200005,"lon":-81.35303896099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-04-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small square brick pump shelter housing a hand-powered water pump at the intersection of Walnut Street and Main Avenue in the center of East Sparta, Stark County, Ohio. It was erected in 1921.","why_significant":"It is nominated under Criterion A as the village's best-known landmark and an early example of a public-welfare project from a time when municipal water was often unavailable. It is described as unique in Stark County and the surrounding region. It served residents and travelers on old State Route 8 and reflects the village's ties to the brick and ceramic tile industry.","narrative":"At the center of East Sparta's busiest intersection, Walnut Street and Main Avenue, sits a roughly ten-foot-square brick shelter built in 1921 around a hand-operated water pump. Four large round arches rest on low walls of dark red brick, with orange-brown salt-glazed brick above and a pyramidal roof of red and green ceramic barrel tile. A sandstone panel on the north wall records the 1921 date. The well was dug about 1846, and a crew of bricklayers working on a pipeline pumping station offered to build the shelter if the town supplied bricks, which a local clay company donated. The pump stayed in use after a community water system arrived around 1950, giving residents and travelers on old State Route 8 a place to stop for a drink. Its brick and tile construction reflects the village's ties to local clay and tile industries, and it is regarded as the community's most recognizable symbol.","period_of_significance":"1921-1958","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"A replacement pump built by F.E. Myers & Brothers of Ashland, Ohio was installed in 2005 after the original Rich Pump Company pump was stolen in the 1990s; the structure is described as retaining a high degree of integrity.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.349145-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/09000172.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000172/cc23c78ee6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000172/cc23c78ee6-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Roseohioresident","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sparta_town_pump.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Roseohioresident</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sparta_town_pump.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991468","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138685186"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/stark-county/town-pump-of-east-sparta-the-09000172/"}