{"nrhp_refnum":"78002216","name":"Empire House","other_names":["Stony Ridge Antiques"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5535 U.S. 20","address_restricted":false,"city":"Stony Ridge","county":"Wood County","state":"OH","lat":41.50782452900006,"lon":-83.50321586299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-11-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Greek Revival inn on U.S. Route 20 in Stony Ridge, Wood County, Ohio, built in 1848-49 by John Elderkin, with a detached summer kitchen at the rear.","why_significant":"It is one of very few remaining inns and taverns along U.S. 20, the former 'mud pike' or Western Reserve Road, which carried travelers across the Black Swamp of northwestern Ohio. It was considered the most elegant inn in the area, with refined Greek Revival architecture and fine interior woodwork. It is significant for local history and settlement.","narrative":"Built in 1848-49 by John Elderkin, the Empire House is a three-story Greek Revival inn on U.S. Route 20 in Stony Ridge, Ohio. It sits on a glacial ridge beside the old 'mud pike,' begun in 1825 to link Sandusky and Perrysburg across the Black Swamp. Roughly midway between the Woodville and Perrysburg toll gates, it offered rooms, a kitchen, a bar and a ballroom with a spring-hung floating floor. Visitors ranged from local farm hands to conestoga wagon trains. The building has a shallow hip roof, a limestone foundation, a central hall with stairs to all three floors, and carved wooden mantels, one with Adam-style floral reliefs. A probable summer kitchen stands behind it. Aluminum siding now covers the original clapboard, and the inn became an antique store around 1950. It is recognized as one of the few surviving inns along the old turnpike and as an elegant local landmark.","period_of_significance":"1848-49","architect_builder":"John Elderkin","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition and in use as an antiques store since about 1950; exterior covered with aluminum siding.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.359684-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/78002216.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002216/0010b60529-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002216/0010b60529-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Empire_House_in_Stony_Ridge.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Empire_House_in_Stony_Ridge.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992062","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138773997"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/wood-county/empire-house-78002216/"}