{"nrhp_refnum":"94000593","name":"Livingston, Alexander W., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1792 Graham Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reynoldsburg","county":"Franklin County","state":"OH","lat":39.947878854000066,"lon":-82.79611682299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-06-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood frame house at 1792 Graham Road in Reynoldsburg, Franklin County, Ohio, built in 1865 (the significance section says 1864) by cabinetmaker Nathan Orcutt for horticulturist Alexander W. Livingston.","why_significant":"The house is significant under Criterion B for its association with Alexander W. Livingston, who gained worldwide recognition for developing and stabilizing tomato varieties, including the Paragon (1870) and Acme (1875). Both were developed while he lived here. The house is also described as a fine vernacular mid-Victorian dwelling built to high standards.","narrative":"Built in the mid-1860s on Graham Road in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, this large two-story frame house was the family home of Alexander W. Livingston, a horticulturist known for improving the tomato. Livingston oversaw construction by cabinetmaker Nathan Orcutt and reportedly paid extra for knot-free lumber so the clapboard siding would have a smooth finish. The house rests on a sandstone foundation and has a symmetrical front-gable facade, a summer kitchen added before 1900, hand-blown glass in many windows, and plaster-on-lath walls. Livingston lived here until 1878 and introduced the Paragon tomato in 1870 and the Acme in 1875 during that time. He eventually developed more than seventeen tomato varieties, along with sweet corn and cabbage. The original 136-acre farm has shrunk to about 3.8 acres, which include a cutting garden once tended by Mrs. Livingston. The City of Reynoldsburg now owns the property and operates it as a community center and museum of the area's tomato heritage.","period_of_significance":"1864-1878","architect_builder":"Orcutt, Nathan","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century","criteria":["B"],"status_note":"Owned by the City of Reynoldsburg and used as a community center and museum; the form's function listing shows a landscape/garden entry as work in progress.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.017012-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/94000593.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000593/9d692b5cee-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000593/9d692b5cee-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_W._Livingston_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_W._Livingston_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988299","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q116468140"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/franklin-county/livingston-alexander-w-house-94000593/"}