{"nrhp_refnum":"79001928","name":"Leipsic City Hall","other_names":["Van Buren Township Hall, Fire Department and Jail"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Belmore St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Leipsic","county":"Putnam County","state":"OH","lat":41.097148161000064,"lon":-83.98545919999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-06-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A massive eclectic-style brick and sandstone building at Belmore Street (State Route 65) in Leipsic, Putnam County, Ohio, built in 1904 as both the village city hall and the Van Buren Township hall. Chas. Henry & Sons were the architects.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is historically important because it still serves both village and township as jail, fire house, offices and mayor's court, and now also as a branch library. It is architecturally significant for its battlements, corbelling and square tower, which recall a medieval fortress. Its size and elaborate detail are unusual for such a small village, and it is a remnant of Leipsic's railroad and timber boom.","narrative":"Built in 1904, this brick and sandstone building on Belmore Street in Leipsic, Ohio, served as both the village city hall and the Van Buren Township hall. Its two faces carry inscription stones reading CITY HALL 1904 and TOWNSHIP HALL. Chas. Henry & Sons designed it for a $300 fee, and the local firm Dudley and Leffler supervised construction. Battlements, corbelling, buttresses and a square corner tower give it the look of a medieval fortress, which is unusual in scale and elaboration for a small rural village. A fourth-story open belfry on the tower, once used for drying fire hoses, is gone. The building reflects Leipsic's growth as a crossroads of three railroads during the draining of the Black Swamp and the timber boom. It continued to house the jail, fire department, offices, mayor's court and a branch library. Efflorescence, spalling brick and damage from earlier sandblasting were ongoing concerns for village councilmen.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Chas. Henry & Sons (architects); Dudley and Leffler (contractors)","architectural_style":"Eclectic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use by the village and township as jail, fire house, offices, mayor's court and branch library; exterior brick and sandstone are deteriorating.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.724087-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/79001928.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001928/7ffe23b5c6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001928/7ffe23b5c6-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leipsic_City_Hall_site.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leipsic_City_Hall_site.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991084","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leipsic_Village_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6520136"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/putnam-county/leipsic-city-hall-79001928/"}