{"nrhp_refnum":"82001448","name":"Townsend, William T., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"515 W. Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sandusky","county":"Erie County","state":"OH","lat":41.453747828000076,"lon":-82.71458045399999,"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 3½-story limestone house at 515 W. Washington Street in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, built in 1844 for merchant William T. Townsend and later enlarged with Italianate features. It is now used as apartments.","why_significant":"The nomination holds the house significant for its fine use of native limestone, including smooth-faced coursed ashlar on the front and rock-faced ashlar on the sides. It is also tied to William T. Townsend, one of Sandusky's earliest merchants, who owned steamships and a hotel and helped finance a railroad.","narrative":"Built in 1844, this 3½-story house at 515 W. Washington Street in Sandusky is notable for its use of native limestone. The front wall is smooth-faced coursed ashlar with quoins, while the sides are rock-faced ashlar. Windows have stone lintels and sills, and a stone water table runs around the base. A two-story porch retains its original cut work and brackets. About 1870 the house was enlarged and Italianate features were added. A small brick and stone addition went onto the west side around 1920, and a rear wing was later removed. William T. Townsend, one of Sandusky's earliest merchants, built the house. He also owned a line of steamships and a hotel and helped finance the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad. After Townsend and his wife died of cholera in 1849, the house passed to Pitt and Mary Townsend Cooke. In the early 1900s it served as a home and dairy, and in 1920 it became apartments, its current use.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"William T. Townsend (builder)","architectural_style":"Italianate Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Exterior in very good condition; used as apartments since 1920; altered by an Italianate enlargement about 1870, a small c. 1920 addition, and removal of a rear wing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.493532-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82001448.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001448/cb6005087a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001448/cb6005087a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_T._Townsend_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_T._Townsend_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71984910","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137779366"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/erie-county/townsend-william-t-house-82001448/"}