{"nrhp_refnum":"78002136","name":"Grant, William H., House","other_names":["Gerlach House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"453 Grant St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Middleport","county":"Meigs County","state":"OH","lat":38.99980945800007,"lon":-82.05673384699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-03-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story cement house at 453 Grant Street in Middleport, Meigs County, Ohio, built around 1855 with a frame rear addition added around 1865. It was built by William H. Grant.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house was one of the earliest cement houses in Meigs County and was an important religious meeting place. William H. Grant and his wife were converted to Swedenborgianism by John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) and organized a local congregation that met in the house in 1859.","narrative":"Built around 1855 on Grant Street in Middleport, this two-story house has walls made by pouring cement around smaller sandstone rocks, set on large sandstone blocks. A frame rear addition followed about 1865, and a five-sided bay was added on the west side in the later 19th century. The hipped roof has a plain boxed cornice, and the interior keeps its original woodwork, including cyma recta crown molding. William H. Grant, who bought much of the land that became Middleport in 1845, built the house and also experimented with cement on a smaller building nearby. The nomination calls it one of the earliest cement houses in Meigs County. It also has a religious history: Grant and his wife were converted to the Swedenborgian faith by John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed, and a congregation met in the house by 1859. Later conversion into apartments left the cement walls sound, though floors and part of the addition have deteriorated.","period_of_significance":"1845 - 1885","architect_builder":"William H. Grant","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence, divided into apartments a few years before the nomination. The ground floor joists have rotted and the floors sag, and part of the rear addition's foundation has settled.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.026548-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/78002136.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002136/486d4735be-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002136/486d4735be-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_H._Grant_House_in_Middleport.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_H._Grant_House_in_Middleport.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990253","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Grant_House_(Middleport,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8010428"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/meigs-county/grant-william-h-house-78002136/"}