{"nrhp_refnum":"73001547","name":"Erwin Hall, Marietta College","other_names":["Chapel Building","Middle Building","Science Hall","See Also:Mariet"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5th St. on Marietta College campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marietta","county":"Washington County","state":"OH","lat":39.41697394100004,"lon":-81.45033521399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-04-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Erwin Hall is a three-story Greek Revival brick building with a two-stage wooden clock and bell tower on the Marietta College campus on Fifth Street in Marietta, Ohio. It was built from 1845 to 1850 under gentleman architect-superintendent Rufus Erastus Harte.","why_significant":"It is the oldest existing structure on the Marietta College campus and has served as the chief symbol of the college since 1850. The nomination also argues that its design, closely resembling the 1836 chapel at Western Reserve in Hudson, shows a New England design traveling south via the Western Reserve, giving it significance beyond Marietta.","narrative":"Erwin Hall is a three-story Greek Revival brick building on the Marietta College campus in Marietta, Ohio. Its cornerstone was laid in July 1845 and it was completed in 1850. Brick Doric pilasters run the full height of the walls, and a two-stage wooden clock and bell tower rises behind the pediment. The bell has hung there since 1852. Originally the hall held the chapel, lecture rooms, the library and two literary society halls. Interior partitions, laboratories and fireproofing were added over the years, while the exterior changed little. Today it houses classrooms and offices for psychology and sociology. It is the oldest surviving building on campus and the college's chief symbol. Architect-superintendent Rufus Erastus Harte, who had attended Western Reserve College in Hudson, probably based the design on the chapel there, completed in 1836. Historian Eric Johannesen's theory holds that the hall reflects a New England design arriving in southern Ohio by way of the Western Reserve.","period_of_significance":"1845-1850","architect_builder":"Rufus Erastus Harte, gentleman architect-superintendent","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition and occupied; now houses classrooms, laboratories and offices of the psychology and sociology departments. Externally little altered, with the interior changed over time.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.020622-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/73001547.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001547/4fd5287570-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001547/4fd5287570-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Bwsmith84 (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erwin_Hall,_Marietta_College.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bwsmith84 (talk)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erwin_Hall,_Marietta_College.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"01001040","name":"Marietta Historic District (Boundary Decrease)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/marietta-historic-district-boundary-decrease-01001040/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991893","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111324889"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/washington-county/erwin-hall-marietta-college-73001547/"}