{"nrhp_refnum":"79002813","name":"Gruenwald Convent","other_names":["Green Forest Convent","McDowell House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":".5 mi. S of Cassella","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cassella","county":"Mercer County","state":"OH","lat":40.40046199000005,"lon":-84.55090179199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-07-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick convent building of 1854 located about 1.2 miles south of Cassella in Mercer County, Ohio, built as the fifth convent founded by Father Brunner of the Precious Blood. It is now used as a residence.","why_significant":"It was one of ten convents in the Mercer County area that housed and schooled nuns serving the large influx of German Catholics. It is one of only three of these convents still standing intact. It also shows a plain vernacular brick design typical of houses along the Miami-Erie Canal.","narrative":"Gruenwald Convent, also called Green Forest Convent, is a vernacular brick building put up in 1854 about 1.2 miles south of Cassella in Mercer County, Ohio. It was the fifth convent built by Father Brunner of the Precious Blood between 1845 and 1856. Its walls are handmade brick laid in stretcher bond over a stone foundation, under a gable roof, with a summer kitchen attached at the rear. The rough brick surface and the starkness of the design are apparent, and a matched pair of windows in the gable end is typical of brick houses along the Miami-Erie Canal. The convent was one of ten in the area whose nuns served the many German Catholic settlers, and it is one of three that remain intact. The sisters sold the building in 1923, and it now serves as a residence. A cemetery and other convent buildings were later added across the road. The exterior remains largely unaltered.","period_of_significance":"1854","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as a residence; exterior is unaltered and fairly well maintained, with condition listed as fair. The sisters sold the building in 1923.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.336423-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/79002813.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002813/673b80a79f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002813/673b80a79f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gruenwald_Convent.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gruenwald_Convent.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71985897","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruenwald_Convent","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5611962"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/mercer-county/gruenwald-convent-79002813/"}