{"nrhp_refnum":"80003143","name":"Evans, Wilson Bruce, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"33 E. Vine St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oberlin","county":"Lorain County","state":"OH","lat":41.288592848000064,"lon":-82.21630926599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-16","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1997-12-09","areas_of_significance":["Social History"],"significance_levels":["national","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A modest two-story square brick Italianate house at 33 East Vine Street in Oberlin, Lorain County, Ohio, built in 1855-1856 by cabinet maker Wilson Bruce Evans.","why_significant":"The house was the home of Wilson Bruce Evans, a free black man active in Oberlin's anti-slavery movement and a leader of its black community. He was one of those indicted after the 1858 Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of fugitive slave John Price. The house is also one of several pre-Civil War houses surviving in Oberlin.","narrative":"Built in 1855-1856 at 33 East Vine Street in Oberlin, Ohio, this two-story square brick house reflects the Italianate style in modest form. It has a low hipped roof with bracketed eaves, segmental brick window arches, plain stone sills, a central chimney, and an entrance with an arched transom and double doors. A frame kitchen wing at the rear dates from the original owner, and the front porch was added after 1900 by his son. Wide interior moldings were probably made by the owner, a cabinet maker. Wilson Bruce Evans (1824-1898), a free black man from North Carolina, came to Oberlin in the early 1850s and became part of the leadership of its black community. He and his brother Henry took part in the 1858 Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of fugitive slave John Price. Both were among thirty-seven people indicted, and Evans spent 84 days in the Cleveland jail. He later served in an Ohio regiment during the Civil War, and many black Oberlin students roomed in the house.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in good condition; only alterations are a hot air furnace, two bathrooms and a later front porch.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.108282-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/80003143.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989887","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Bruce_Evans_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8022992"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lorain-county/evans-wilson-bruce-house-80003143/"}