{"nrhp_refnum":"13000680","name":"Capital University Historic District (Boundary Increase)","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Bounded by E. Main St., Pleasant Ridge, Astor & College Aves.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bexley","county":"Franklin County","state":"OH","lat":39.95531500350006,"lon":-82.93789422811706,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2013-08-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A campus historic district at the southeast corner of E. Main Street and College Avenue in Bexley (listed under Columbus), Franklin County, Ohio, made up of the core buildings of Capital University built between 1876 and 1928.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be important for architecture and for education history. The buildings show changing tastes from High Victorian Italianate through a functional style to Neo-Gothic, grouped around a central green. They also reflect the university's early growth after it moved to this site in 1876.","narrative":"Capital University's historic core sits on a landscaped tract in Bexley, east of downtown Columbus, with its buildings arranged around a large green open space. The district includes Lehmann Hall and Leonard Hall (both 1876, Italianate), Loy Gymnasium (1905), Rudolph Hall (1915, a library) and Mees Music Hall (1928), the last two in Neo-Gothic style. Bexley Hall, a postwar one-story brick addition behind Mees, was later counted as a sixth building. Lehmann Hall was altered in 1910, when its brick was covered with a concrete finish imitating ashlar stone. The university, founded by the Evangelical Lutheran Church and chartered in 1850, moved here in 1876 after earlier sites near downtown. The buildings were considered notable for showing architectural taste across five decades in a compatible grouping, and for recording the school's early growth. University officials interested in preserving the historic buildings initiated the nomination.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate, Neo-Gothic, and functional/no particular style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition and occupied, with the buildings altered over time; Loy Gymnasium is used as an art and sculpture studio and Mees Music Hall remains in use by the Music Department.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.024869-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82001457.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":null,"wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/franklin-county/capital-university-historic-district-boundary-increase-13000680/"}