{"nrhp_refnum":"82004571","name":"Sandusky House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"757 Sandusky Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lynchburg (Independent City)","county":"Lynchburg","state":"VA","lat":37.38005552800007,"lon":-79.19655610599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-07-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Federal-style farmhouse at 757 Sandusky Drive in Lynchburg, Virginia, built around 1808 for Charles Johnston, with a later ell and a few surviving outbuildings on a 3.84-acre lot.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Sandusky is one of the earliest and most refined Federal-style houses in the Lynchburg area and influenced later houses nearby. Its alterations are well documented through fire insurance policies from 1813 and 1817. It also served as Union headquarters during the Battle of Lynchburg in June 1864, housing Gen. David Hunter and staff including future presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley.","narrative":"Sandusky is a two-story, five-bay brick farmhouse in Lynchburg, built around 1808 for Charles Johnston and laid in even Flemish bond. Its Federal details include splayed brick jack arches, a cornice with paneled mutules, and a semielliptical fanlight over the front door. The parlor has segmental arched niches flanking the chimney breast. An ell at the rear and a one-story kitchen wing were added by 1817, and insurance policies from 1813 and 1817 record the house's early growth. Johnston named the house after Sandusky, Ohio, where Shawnee captors once held him in 1790. The property gained wider historical importance in June 1864, when Gen. David Hunter made it his headquarters during the Battle of Lynchburg. Staff officers Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley were quartered there, and fighting raged in the surrounding fields. The house is considered among the earliest formally styled Federal houses in the area and influenced later local buildings. Boxwood and other plantings screen it from nearby modern houses.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, restored and maintained by its owners, with its yard largely intact though surrounded by later residential development.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.182302-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/6817/41681785/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/82004571.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004571/d3be950e45-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004571/d3be950e45-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sandusky_Lynchburg_Nov_08.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sandusky_Lynchburg_Nov_08.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681785","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandusky_House_(Lynchburg,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7417013"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/lynchburg/sandusky-house-82004571/"}