{"nrhp_refnum":"82001418","name":"Lea Block","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"174-186 E. Market St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sandusky","county":"Erie County","state":"OH","lat":41.45633997900006,"lon":-82.70985949799996,"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 three-story brick commercial building in the Romanesque style at 174-178-186 E. Market St., on a downtown corner in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, built in 1895 for James Lea.","why_significant":"The nomination cites its ornate late 19th century Romanesque architecture. It was built for James Lea, a prominent Sanduskian who made his fortune in lumber and served as an early trustee of the city's water works. The building also housed shops and the Knights of Pythias lodge rooms.","narrative":"Lea Block is a three-story brick commercial building at 174-178-186 E. Market St. on a downtown corner in Sandusky, Ohio. Built in 1895 in the Romanesque style, it sits on a stone foundation and has a flat roof, running-bond brick walls and a rectangular plan. Its decoration includes a metal cornice with a basketweave design divided by square brickwork with metal caps, corbeled brick with stone details, round windows with rounded window caps, pilasters, and metal lintels with medallions. Some windows have been bricked in, and the ground-floor shops have modern fronts. The building was constructed for James Lea, a prominent local man who made his fortune in the lumber business and was one of the first trustees of Sandusky's new water works in 1875. A variety of shops have occupied the first floor, and the Knights of Pythias had lodge rooms in the building for many years. Its ornate late nineteenth century architecture is the main reason for its significance.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Romanesque","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Commercial use continues; exterior condition is listed as very good, with ground-floor shops having modern fronts and several windows bricked in.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.88795-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82001418.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001418/2b57197b19-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001418/2b57197b19-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lea_Block.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lea_Block.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100001899","name":"Downtown Sandusky Commercial Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/downtown-sandusky-commercial-historic-district-100001899/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71984888","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137778097"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/erie-county/lea-block-82001418/"}