{"nrhp_refnum":"66000620","name":"Cooke, Jay, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie","address_restricted":false,"city":"Gibraltar Island","county":"Ottawa County","state":"OH","lat":41.65814490750006,"lon":-82.8209378431872,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-11-13","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1966-11-13","areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story, 15-room High Victorian Italianate house with an octagonal tower on Gibraltar Island in Lake Erie at Put-in-Bay, Ottawa County, Ohio, completed in 1865 as the summer home of financier Jay Cooke.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Jay Cooke, the Civil War financier who raised huge sums for the Union through bond sales. The island estate was his beloved summer retreat, which he visited from 1865 until 1904 apart from 1873-1880. The form also notes its distinctive Italianate and Gothic detailing.","narrative":"Gibraltar Island in Lake Erie, off Put-in-Bay, holds a three-story, 15-room house completed in 1865 for the financier Jay Cooke. Built in the High Victorian Italianate manner, it is dominated by an octagonal Gothic-style tower with a dome and crenelations, and its windows are framed by hood mouldings under large ornamental brackets. Inside, the library retains carved bookcases, and the parlor has a marble fireplace. Cooke, born in Sandusky, sold enormous quantities of government bonds during the Civil War, helping the Union finance the conflict. He used the island as a summer retreat from 1865 until 1904, except for 1873 to 1880, when he lost the property after his firm failed. Since 1925 Ohio State University's Stone Laboratory has operated on the island, and the house serves as a men's dormitory. Apart from a frame addition at the rear, it remains largely as built.","period_of_significance":"1865-1904","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"High Victorian Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Used by Ohio State University as the men's dormitory for the Stone Laboratory; the form lists the property as occupied and in good condition, largely unchanged apart from a rear frame addition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.669372-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/66000620_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000620/e2c44ebca2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000620/e2c44ebca2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Analogue Kid","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cooke_Castle_1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Analogue Kid</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:Cooke_Castle_1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986538","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Cooke_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6166507"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/ottawa-county/cooke-jay-house-66000620/"}