{"nrhp_refnum":"79001813","name":"Nicholson, James, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"13335 Detroit Ave","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lakewood","county":"Cuyahoga County","state":"OH","lat":41.48457913800007,"lon":-81.78298947999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-08-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood frame house at 13335 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, erected in 1835 by early settler James Nicholson and later enlarged with rear wings.","why_significant":"It is the oldest surviving structure in Lakewood and the home of James Nicholson, the first permanent settler on Detroit Road in Rockport (now Lakewood). Nicholson organized the township's first church, the Swedenborgian First Society of Rockport, at the house in 1841. The original front wing survives externally intact as recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1935.","narrative":"Built in 1835 on Detroit Avenue, this two-story wood frame house is the oldest surviving structure in Lakewood. Its five-bay front has a center entrance with pilasters, side lights and Doric columns around a six-paneled door, and a small porch roof carried on ornamental trellises. James Nicholson, born in Massachusetts in 1783, settled in Rockport in 1818 and became the first permanent settler on Detroit Road. He took part in the township's first election in 1819. A student of Swedenborg's writings, he helped found the First Society of Rockport at this house in 1841, the first church organized in the township. His widow added to and renovated the house about ten years after his death in 1859, and four generations of the family lived there. Later the building was converted to apartments. The Historic American Buildings Survey drew the original front wing in 1935-1936, and the house remains on its original site.","period_of_significance":"1835; 1841","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; the interior and rear wings have been remodeled for apartment use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:11.988898-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/79001813.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001813/1d29956b1f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001813/1d29956b1f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Dan D. Ric","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NicholsonHouseLakewoodOhio.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Dan D. Ric</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NicholsonHouseLakewoodOhio.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71987691","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137723806"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/cuyahoga-county/nicholson-james-house-79001813/"}