{"nrhp_refnum":"93000403","name":"Downing, John, Jr., House","other_names":["Meg-267-14"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"220--232 N. Second Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Middleport","county":"Meigs County","state":"OH","lat":39.00322440600007,"lon":-82.04777666299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-05-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick house with an attached one-story office, built in 1859 in the downtown commercial district of Middleport, Meigs County, Ohio. The Colonial Revival alterations date from 1921.","why_significant":"It is nominated under Criterion B for its link to John B. Downing Jr., a locally prominent businessman who founded a local bank, and under Criterion C as a good example of Colonial Revival remodeling. It is also the only currently identified Ohio-side work of Charleston, West Virginia, architect Frederick Crowther. Of the five four-over-four end-gable houses surveyed in Middleport, it is the only one with Colonial Revival changes.","narrative":"Built in 1859 for Rodney Downing in downtown Middleport, Ohio, this brick house has an attached office that opened for insurance business in 1868. It was home to four generations of the Downing family. John B. Downing Jr. took over the family insurance business in 1914 and expanded into coal, oil and gas, salt, water companies, brick paving and banking, helping organize the Citizens National Bank. In 1921 he hired Charleston, West Virginia, architect Fred Crowther to modernize the home. Crowther gave the exterior a Colonial Revival look with a columned portico, paired entry doors, metal balustrades, dormers and a brick sunroom, while the interior gained new bathrooms, a breakfast nook and a sleeping porch. A local lumber company carried out the work. Of five similar four-over-four houses recorded in Middleport, none other received Colonial Revival changes. The house is also the only known Ohio-side work of Crowther.","period_of_significance":"1914-1942","architect_builder":"Crowther, Frederick, Architect; Miller, R. A., Lumber Co., Contractor","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"The house retains its four-over-four form with the 1921 alterations. The former carriage house was converted to a garage in the 1950s and is no longer a contributing part of the property.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.689009-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/93000403.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000403/aebabf1e42-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000403/aebabf1e42-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Downing,_Jr.,_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Downing,_Jr.,_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990247","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Downing_Jr._House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6230018"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/meigs-county/downing-john-jr-house-93000403/"}