{"nrhp_refnum":"73001440","name":"Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad Station","other_names":["Volunteers of America Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"379 W. Broad St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Columbus","county":"Franklin County","state":"OH","lat":39.96061397100004,"lon":-83.01071310999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-06-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brown brick former railroad station with a three-and-one-half-story tower at 379 West Broad Street, Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, built in 1895 by the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad; the architect is unknown.","why_significant":"The station is described as one of Central Ohio's greatest architectural oddities, with an Oriental-appearing pagoda-style tower and entrance. It also reflects the short, complicated history of the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad and its later control by the Hocking Valley and New York Central railroads. Its well-preserved waiting room interior adds to its importance.","narrative":"Built in 1895 of brown brick, this former railroad station at 379 West Broad Street in Columbus was erected by the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad. Its architect is unknown. The building has two stories, a three-and-one-half-story tower, and measures about seventy by forty feet. The tower tapers to a compound pagoda-style tile roof, with stone quoins, a plaque bearing the railroad's banner, and openwork brickwork on each side. Octagonal towers flank it. Passengers bought tickets on the ground floor, then climbed to a second-level platform at viaduct height to board trains. Inside, the waiting room keeps its Italian marble floor, mahogany woodwork and a vaulted ceiling with bas-relief cornice. The railroad was later bought by the Hocking Valley Railroad, and the New York Central used the station until 1930, when service moved to Union Station. The building was then leased and later bought by the Volunteers of America, which uses it today. Locals called it \"that funny building on West Broad.\"","period_of_significance":"1895","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and altered; occupied and used by Volunteers of America, with several large rooms converted to dormitories and the waiting room largely preserved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.084458-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/73001440.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001440/79daea3235-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001440/79daea3235-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Ron Reiring","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbus,_OH_train_station.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ron Reiring</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,_OH_train_station.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988457","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_and_Ohio_Central_Railroad_Station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q27826288"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/franklin-county/toledo-and-ohio-central-railroad-station-73001440/"}