{"nrhp_refnum":"73001436","name":"Ohio Asylum for the Blind","other_names":["Ohio Department of Highway Safety Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"240 Parsons Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Columbus","county":"Franklin County","state":"OH","lat":39.959282347000055,"lon":-82.98092167199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-07-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story sandstone building with a mansard roof at 240 Parsons Avenue in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. Built 1869-1874 as the Ohio Asylum for the Blind, it later housed the Ohio Department of Highway Safety.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a well-preserved example of Second Empire architecture and a reminder of the post-Civil War public building boom. It housed the state's school for the blind until the early 1950s. It was also part of Governor Rutherford B. Hayes' capital building program.","narrative":"Construction of the Ohio Asylum for the Blind in Columbus began in May 1869 and was finished in May 1874, delayed by a shortage of construction workers. The cut sandstone building rises three stories beneath a mansard roof and measures roughly 175 by 60 feet. It was designed for 250 students and 65 staff. Twin towers flank a square central section that once carried a tall belfry and spire, removed in a twentieth-century renovation. The east side has a varied series of wings, including a chapel-like section. The school grew out of the first state school for the blind in the United States, opened in 1837, and the larger building replaced an overcrowded first structure. Blind Ohioans were educated here until the early 1950s, after which state highway safety offices took over the building. It is valued as a well-preserved Second Empire design and as a product of the post-Civil War public building boom under Governor Rutherford B. Hayes.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (built 1869-1874)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Second Empire","criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as state government office space (Ohio Department of Highway Safety) after the blind school moved in the early 1950s; condition listed as fair, altered, on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.881208-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/73001436.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"78002063","name":"Columbus Near East Side District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/columbus-near-east-side-district-78002063/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988489","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/franklin-county/ohio-asylum-for-the-blind-73001436/"}