{"nrhp_refnum":"84003809","name":"Ward-Thomas House","other_names":["The Thomas House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"503 Brown St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Niles","county":"Trumbull County","state":"OH","lat":41.173810366000055,"lon":-80.76471175399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-02-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2½-story Italianate house with a barn, garage and greenhouse on a wooded 4.22-acre lot at 503 Brown Street in southern Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, built in 1862.","why_significant":"The house was the home of several leading industrialists tied to Niles' iron and steel industry, including James Ward, James Ward Jr. and John R. Thomas. It is described as one of the best examples of Italianate architecture of its period in Niles. The estate setting still conveys the character of a large industrialist's property.","narrative":"Built in 1862 on the southern edge of Niles, Ohio, this 2½-story Italianate house sits in a wooded lot beside the Mahoning River and Meander Creek. It has clapboard siding, a low hip roof with wide bracketed eaves, rounded-arch windows and a porch with Corinthian columns. Inside, original woodwork, marble and carved wooden mantels, and ceilings with cornice moldings and medallions survive. A barn, garage and greenhouse behind the house add to the estate character. The house was built by iron manufacturer James Ward, who came to Niles from Pittsburgh in 1841. His son expanded the family's mills and plants before economic downturns in 1873 and 1883 forced closures and relocations. In 1887 the property was auctioned to John R. Thomas, founder of the Niles Firebrick Company and an investor in the local iron industry. His descendants lived there until 1969 and gave it to the city in 1978. It now serves as a museum run by the Niles Historical Society.","period_of_significance":"1862","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the City of Niles and operated as a museum by the Niles Historical Society; the form marks it occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.341101-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/84003809.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003809/91ea2bf16c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003809/91ea2bf16c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ward-Thomas_House_gate.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ward-Thomas_House_gate.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991691","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138749474"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/trumbull-county/ward-thomas-house-84003809/"}