{"nrhp_refnum":"82001434","name":"Ross Hardware","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"708 Hancock St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sandusky","county":"Erie County","state":"OH","lat":41.450922330000026,"lon":-82.70468886699996,"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 with a cast zinc front at 708 Hancock Street in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, built in 1878 as a hardware store.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for its fine metal facade, with exuberant Eastlake-style ornamentation on the upper floors. It was built by Charles Ross Jr., who ran a hardware store there. The area was a thriving alternative to downtown in the late 19th century, served by a trolley and shopped by residents of the growing East End.","narrative":"Ross Hardware is a three-story brick commercial building at 708 Hancock Street in Sandusky, Ohio, completed in 1878. Its most notable feature is a cast zinc front in the Eastlake style. The upper floors carry dense ornament: pilasters with acanthus leaves and rosettes between the windows, bands of circular designs separating each floor, and a bracketed cornice decorated with fleurs-de-lis, feathers, arches, butterflies and leaves. Charles Ross Jr. built the structure and operated a hardware store there, selling stoves, sheet metal goods and general hardware. In the latter part of the 19th century the area served as a lively alternative to downtown Sandusky. A trolley line ran out to it, and many residents of the fast-growing East End shopped there. The first-floor entry and windows were altered in the early 1970s. At the time of the inventory the building was vacant and in poor exterior condition, on a street of deteriorating small houses and storefronts near a city park.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Charles Ross Jr. (builder)","architectural_style":"Eastlake","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as vacant with poor exterior condition; the first-floor entry and windows were altered in the early 1970s.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.520144-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82001434.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71984900","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/erie-county/ross-hardware-82001434/"}