{"nrhp_refnum":"77001046","name":"Thomas Select School","other_names":["The Log Manse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3637 Millville-Shandon Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Shandon","county":"Butler County","state":"OH","lat":39.32843119900008,"lon":-84.71448331399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, rectangular log building at 3637 Millville-Shandon Road in Shandon, Butler County, Ohio, built about 1810. It later served as a school and as a manse, and is also known as the Log Manse.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant as an early, though altered, Ohio log structure. It is also significant as a very early southwest Ohio school, the Thomas Select School, run by the Whitewater (later Paddy's Run) Congregational Church under the Reverend Thomas Thomas.","narrative":"This two-story log building in Shandon, Butler County, Ohio, measures 29 by 18 feet and dates to about 1810. Its walls are large, hand-hewn rectangular timbers joined by steeple notching, a log construction method popular in Ohio before 1825. A stone chimney stands at the east end, and the gable roof carries asbestos shingles. Doors and windows are new, and the center stairway and other interior features are believed to be later changes. It is unknown whether the building was first built as a school, but by 1820 it housed the Thomas Select School, a private boarding school teaching grammar, math and science, while local girls learned sewing. The Whitewater Congregational Church operated the school, and the Reverend Thomas Thomas, who arrived from England in 1820, also used the building as his manse. The congregation sold the building and about two acres in 1885. It remained in one family until 1947 and is now a summer residence.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1810","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as presently used as a summer residence; privately owned and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.332056-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/77001046.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001046/905b0a3c6a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001046/905b0a3c6a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Select_School.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Select_School.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986947","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Select_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7793868"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/butler-county/thomas-select-school-77001046/"}