{"nrhp_refnum":"73001435","name":"Franklinton Post Office","other_names":["David Deardurf House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"72 S. Gift St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Columbus","county":"Franklin County","state":"OH","lat":39.95958949300007,"lon":-83.01534955399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-03-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story hand-hewn log house at 72 South Gift Street in Columbus, Ohio, in the Franklinton neighborhood. David Deardurf built it, with the form giving circa 1800 in the description and 1807 in the significance section.","why_significant":"The house is described as one of Franklinton's earliest landmarks. The first post office in Franklinton was established in its front room. Franklinton was the first settlement laid out in central Ohio, and the Deardurf family was among its earliest settlers.","narrative":"Built of hand-hewn logs on a limestone foundation, this two-story house at 72 South Gift Street in Columbus dates to the early 1800s, with the form giving both circa 1800 and 1807. David Deardurf, one of the earliest settlers of Franklinton, built it on land given to settlers on Gift Street by town founder Lucas Sullivant. Franklinton was founded in 1797 and was the first settlement laid out in central Ohio. The house is notable because the first post office in Franklinton was set up in its front room. Mail came from Chillicothe, a three-day ride along a rough forest trail, carried weekly by a thirteen-year-old courier, Andrew McElvain. Later changes include an east lean-to added around 1860, added siding, and plaster over the interior log walls. As Franklinton was annexed by Columbus, the neighborhood declined. The house was saved from demolition in 1962, but by 1972 the city had condemned it as unfit for habitation, and it was listed as an early log house tied to the community's first postal service.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (built 1807)","architect_builder":"David Deardurf","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in fair condition, with a lean-to, siding and roof that are not original. The City of Columbus declared it unfit for human habitation on September 13, 1972, and the form says it was in danger of being razed.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.251155-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/73001435.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001435/b5b0840112-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001435/b5b0840112-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Ohio Redevelopment Projects - ODSA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbus-Franklinton_Post_Office_(OHPTC)_-_7845125022.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ohio Redevelopment Projects - ODSA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbus-Franklinton_Post_Office_(OHPTC)_-_7845125022.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988619","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklinton_Post_Office","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q96378416"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/franklin-county/franklinton-post-office-73001435/"}