{"nrhp_refnum":"75001516","name":"Somerset Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Main St. from High St. to properties facing Market Sq; Columbus St. from jct. with Sheridan and Gay Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somerset","county":"Perry County","state":"OH","lat":39.80904028550006,"lon":-82.29939685583642,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-09-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of about 70 buildings in the village of Somerset, Perry County, Ohio, centered on Public Square and Market Square along Main and Columbus Streets. It includes the 1828 Old Perry County Courthouse and jail, 19th-century commercial buildings, and Civil War General Philip Sheridan's boyhood home.","why_significant":"Somerset is one of only two Ohio original county seats that still have their first-generation federal-style courthouse. The nomination also ranks it among Ohio's most intact early county seats, since nearly all its 19th-century commercial buildings and houses survive. Only three intrusions, all gasoline stations, are noted among roughly 70 buildings.","narrative":"Somerset, in Perry County, Ohio, is a village whose early core survives largely intact around Public Square and Market Square. The district covers about 70 buildings along Main and Columbus Streets. Its centerpiece is the Old Perry County Courthouse of 1828, a nearly square, two-story whitewashed brick building with a hipped roof, cupola and elliptical-headed federal doorway, designed by James Hampson. Beside it stands the former sandstone jail, now attached to the courthouse. Somerset is one of only two Ohio original county seats that keep their first permanent courthouse. Around the square are mid- to late-19th-century commercial buildings, including Underwood's Hardware and Finck's Store, with its Italianate window hoodmolds and cornice. The district also contains the boyhood home of General Philip H. Sheridan, whose 1905 equestrian statue stands on the square. Only three gasoline stations are classed as intrusions. The village was founded in 1810 and served as county seat until 1857.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"James Hampson (Old Courthouse); built by William P. Darst and George Jackson","architectural_style":"Federal (courthouse); restrained Italianate detailing on Finck's Store","criteria":[],"status_note":"The old courthouse houses city offices. The old jail, used until the mid-1950s, is vacant except for a portion used as a garage. Most commercial buildings around the square are described as in good repair.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.988009-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/75001516.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990878","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/perry-county/somerset-historic-district-75001516/"}