{"nrhp_refnum":"82001430","name":"Old First Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"265 Jackson St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sandusky","county":"Erie County","state":"OH","lat":41.45431474900005,"lon":-82.71279947599999,"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":"Old First Church is a Romanesque Revival limestone church at 265 Jackson Street in downtown Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, built 1853-1855 and located across from Washington Park.","why_significant":"The inventory form states the building is significant for its fine Romanesque Revival architecture. The congregation was organized in 1852 by 26 people who left the First Congregational Church, and it worshipped in the rear chapel (1853) until the sanctuary was completed in 1855. The reviewer's notes indicate Criterion C.","narrative":"Old First Church is a limestone church at 265 Jackson Street in downtown Sandusky, Ohio, across from Washington Park. Built between 1853 and 1855 in the Romanesque Revival style, it has rockfaced ashlar walls, a gable roof, a steeple and a turret on the north side. The steeple has round-arched louvers, a stone string course, a bracketed stone cornice and a copper spire. A rose window with tracery and a rounded entrance with foliated columns face the street. The congregation was organized in 1852 by 26 people who requested letters of dismission from the First Congregational Church. They worshipped in the rear chapel, built in 1853, until the sanctuary was finished in 1855. Changes came in 1926-27, when the front door moved from the base of the tower to the center and the rose window frame and tracery were changed from wood to stone. An education wing was added in the 1960s. The building remains in use as a church and is valued for its architecture.","period_of_significance":"1853-1855","architect_builder":"Washington Rou (as partially legible in the OCR text)","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a church; interior and exterior condition listed as excellent. The front door and rose window were altered in 1926-27, and an education wing was added in the 1960s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.810507-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82001430.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001430/d5e103ef69-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001430/d5e103ef69-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Antony-22","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Presbyterian_Church_Sandusky_OH_2023.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Antony-22</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Presbyterian_Church_Sandusky_OH_2023.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71984894","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Presbyterian_Church_(Sandusky,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453633"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/erie-county/old-first-church-82001430/"}