{"nrhp_refnum":"76001463","name":"Johnston, William C., House And General Store","other_names":["Old Distribue House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Washington and Davidson Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Burlington","county":"Lawrence County","state":"OH","lat":38.40620971200008,"lon":-82.53064938899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-09-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Flemish bond brick house and general store at the corner of Washington and Davidson Streets in Burlington, Lawrence County, Ohio, facing the Ohio River. It dates to about 1820 and was built by William C. Johnston.","why_significant":"It is nominated as one of the few remaining early structures in Lawrence County and a good local example of combined commercial and residential architecture. It housed the first licensed store in the county and served as a post office from 1840 to 1887. It is also locally believed to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad, though no physical evidence has been found.","narrative":"Built around 1820 at the corner of Washington and Davidson Streets in Burlington, this two-story Flemish bond brick building faces the Ohio River. It sits on a rough-cut limestone foundation and has a round-arched center entrance with a half-round transom and a brick corbel band in place of a frieze. William C. Johnston built it as both home and general store, and the county commissioners' records show he paid for the first store license issued in the county seat. Lawrence County was formed in 1816, and Burlington was its first county seat. The Johnston brothers also ran a tannery and blacksmith shop. The building served as a post office from 1840 to 1887 and later held a doctor's office. Local tradition links it to the Underground Railroad, although no evidence of tunnels has been found. The interior has been fully modernized as a single-family house, and a rear wing and side porches have been removed.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Wm. C. Johnston","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Altered; the interior has been completely modernized for use as a single-family house, and the form lists it as occupied private residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.404558-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/76001463.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001463/29f69f88ef-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001463/29f69f88ef-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_C._Johnston_House_in_Burlington.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_C._Johnston_House_in_Burlington.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989653","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138457098"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lawrence-county/johnston-william-c-house-and-general-store-76001463/"}