{"nrhp_refnum":"78002182","name":"Waverly Canal Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Walnut, North, Emmitt (US 23), Second, Third and Fourth Sts between Lock and East","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waverly","county":"Pike County","state":"OH","lat":39.127334568000066,"lon":-82.98360735180938,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Transportation","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic business and residential district in Waverly, Pike County, Ohio, centered on the former Ohio and Erie Canal corridor and Emmitt Avenue, with buildings mostly from the mid-to-late 19th century.","why_significant":"The district preserves the 19th-century commercial and residential character of a canal town that grew after the Ohio and Erie Canal reached Waverly in 1829. Industrial decline after the canal closed in 1912 left its architecture largely intact. Its courthouse, hotels, churches, commercial blocks and houses illustrate the town's growth. The surviving fabric is described as cohesive and separate from newer suburbs and industries.","narrative":"Waverly's old canal district in Pike County, Ohio, is a downtown and neighborhood area shaped by the Ohio and Erie Canal, which reached the town in 1829 and opened through it in 1832. Streets were laid out parallel to the canal, and trade brought hotels, warehouses, shops and homes. Fires in 1858 destroyed many frame buildings, and larger brick structures followed, including the three-story Emmitt House of 1861 and the Pike County Courthouse, completed in 1865 and enlarged in 1909. Other notable buildings include the 1859 German Evangelical church, the Grand Hotel, the Greenbaum Building, and houses such as Bissel Port and the Horvath and Emmitt residences. The canal was closed and filled in 1912. Because industry declined in the early twentieth century, the 19th-century architecture was left largely unchanged, and newer development lies outside the district. The area remains in mixed commercial, government and residential use.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"George Bauersachs (United Church of Christ); James Emmitt (Emmitt House, Greenbaum Building); Joseph Sewell, contractor, with Madison Hemings (Bissel Port)","architectural_style":"Mixed 19th-century styles, including Greek Revival, Georgian Revival, Federal, Italianate, Queen Anne and Eastlake","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked good; the district is occupied, with commercial, government and private residence uses.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.533046-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/78002182.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990947","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/pike-county/waverly-canal-historic-district-78002182/"}