{"nrhp_refnum":"66000608","name":"Edison, Thomas Alva, Birthplace","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Edison Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Milan","county":"Erie County","state":"OH","lat":41.299954537000076,"lon":-82.60495634699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1965-01-12","areas_of_significance":["Invention"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one and one-half story gabled brick house on Edison Drive in Milan, Erie County, Ohio, built in 1841 and designed by Samuel Edison, father of the inventor Thomas Edison. It now operates as a museum.","why_significant":"Thomas Alva Edison was born in this house on February 11, 1847, and the family left Milan in 1854. The nomination recognizes the house as the birthplace of one of America's most illustrious inventors. Edison later acquired the house from his sister in 1906. The form also notes that the house has seen very few alterations.","narrative":"Thomas Edison's birthplace is a small, one and one-half story gabled brick house on Edison Drive in Milan, Ohio. Samuel Edison, the inventor's father, designed it, and it was built in 1841 on a lot bought that year by Nancy Elliot Edison. Thomas Alva Edison was born here on February 11, 1847, and the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, in 1854. The house has changed very little and appears much as it did during the family's occupancy. Inside are family furnishings, a rope bed in the birth room, clothing, Edison memorabilia, and a basement kitchen with a cooking hearth. Edison later bought the house from his sister in 1906. It is recognized because it marks the origin of an inventor whose work included the incandescent lamp, the Pearl Street power plant, and early motion pictures. The nominated lot measures 66 by 115.5 feet, less than one acre.","period_of_significance":"1847-1854","architect_builder":"Samuel Edison (designer)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition, on its original site, occupied and open to the public as a museum with unrestricted access.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.461915-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/66000608_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000608/01c616a165-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000608/01c616a165-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Chris Light (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Milan_Ohio_Thomas_Edison_Birthplace.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Light (talk)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Milan_Ohio_Thomas_Edison_Birthplace.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986469","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Alva_Edison_Birthplace","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7787048"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/erie-county/edison-thomas-alva-birthplace-66000608/"}