{"nrhp_refnum":"75001390","name":"Sloane, Rush R., House","other_names":["Absher Nursing Home"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"403 E. Adams St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sandusky","county":"Erie County","state":"OH","lat":41.45550527900008,"lon":-82.70540756099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-02-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large three-story stucco mansion in the Italian Villa style at 403 East Adams Street, Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio. The square front block was built by Samuel Torrey in the early 1850s and later expanded.","why_significant":"The house is noted as the residence of Rush R. Sloane, a lawyer, probate judge, railroad president and mayor who was involved in the abolitionist movement and whose house is reputed to have been an underground railway station. It is also an interesting example of an Italian Villa built in two stages. A reviewer noted there is no real documentary evidence of a station, so its significance rests largely on its association with Sloane.","narrative":"This three-story stucco mansion at 403 East Adams Street in Sandusky is an Italian Villa built in two stages. Samuel Torrey constructed the square front block in the early 1850s, and Rush R. Sloane acquired it around 1854. A later expansion added a square corner tower, a rear wing and a large northeast bay, with brackets, window pediments and a portico reflecting the shift toward High Victorian Italianate taste. Sloane, born in Sandusky in 1828, became a lawyer, probate judge, railroad president, mayor and head of the Firelands Historical Society. In 1852 he told fugitive slaves held for a hearing to leave, and he paid a $3,000 judgment under the Fugitive Slave Law. The house is reputed to have been an underground railway station, though a reviewer found no firm documentary proof. The Sandusky Business College used it from 1926 to 1949, and it later became a nursing home.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1854 (?))","architect_builder":"Samuel Torrey (built the original square front portion)","architectural_style":"Italian Villa, with later High Victorian Italianate detailing","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and used as a nursing home; condition excellent, altered; interior remodeled, exterior largely unaltered. Previously housed the Sandusky Business College from 1926 to 1949.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.124052-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/75001390.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001390/39d10139e4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001390/39d10139e4-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rush_R._Sloane_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rush_R._Sloane_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988144","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_R._Sloane_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110008180"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/erie-county/sloane-rush-r-house-75001390/"}