{"nrhp_refnum":"82001391","name":"Curtis, William D., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1411 Hayes Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sandusky","county":"Erie County","state":"OH","lat":41.44327242300005,"lon":-82.71035420099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-10-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story painted brick house at 1411 Hayes Avenue in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, built around 1850 in a vernacular style as a dwelling.","why_significant":"The house is tied to the development of school chalk and crayons, whose manufacturing process was refined in its kitchen in the 1860s. William D. Curtis and the Cowderys formed Western School Supply, which later became the American Crayon Co. The reviewer's notes suggest Criterion A.","narrative":"This two-story painted brick house at 1411 Hayes Avenue in Sandusky dates to about 1850. It is a typical Sandusky half house of the mid-19th century, with stone lintels and sills, a front door with side lights, and a diamond-shaped window in the end gable. The porch is an old addition, as are several rear additions, while the aluminum awnings and screened feature are more recent. Its importance rests on an industrial story. In the 1860s the process for making school chalk and crayons was refined in the kitchen. M. F. Cowdery, J. S. Cowdery and William D. Curtis formed the Western School Supply to market their inventions, and it later became the American Crayon Co. After joining with the Parmenter Crayon Co. of Waltham, Massachusetts in 1890, the company became a major school supplier. The house sits back from later buildings along what was once Columbus Pike, now State Route 4, on a lot of less than one acre.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Used as a dwelling; exterior condition described as good.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.716887-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82001391.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001391/87064c4547-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001391/87064c4547-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_D._Curtis_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_D._Curtis_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71984870","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137771741"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/erie-county/curtis-william-d-house-82001391/"}