{"nrhp_refnum":"94000773","name":"Uniopolis Town Hall","other_names":["Divinity Church of the United Brethren in Christ"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Ohio St. (OH 67) E of jct. with Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Uniopolis","county":"Auglaize County","state":"OH","lat":40.60228374700006,"lon":-84.08739058299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-07-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, gable-fronted frame building on Ohio Street (State Route 67) in the center of Uniopolis, Auglaize County, Ohio. Built as the Divinity Church of the United Brethren in Christ by 1880, it became the village town hall in 1901.","why_significant":"The nomination argues significance under Criterion A in the area of social history, not for its modest architecture or builders. After the church congregation dissolved, the village bought the building and used it for government, education, entertainment and community gatherings for decades. It is presented as the building that best embodies the life of the village and surrounding area.","narrative":"Originally built as a church by the United Brethren congregation by 1880, this small frame building on Ohio Street in Uniopolis, Ohio, became the village town hall in 1901. The congregation had dwindled and its trustees sold the building to the newly incorporated village for $678. The village council had been meeting above a grocery. The rectangular, gable-fronted building has white bevelled siding, lancet-shaped windows and a simple pine-floored main room with a raised stage. Additions were made in 1910, 1919 and 1953, and the steeple, later a square bell tower, was removed in 1953. Beyond council meetings, the hall hosted school programs, commencement exercises, farmers' institutes, dances, wedding receptions, fire department gatherings and traveling shows, and it once held three jail cells. Its importance rests on this role in community life rather than its architecture. After the council considered demolition in 1993, residents formed a historical society and leased the building in 1994.","period_of_significance":"1901-1944","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century/Gothic Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Village council planned demolition in 1993; local citizens formed the Uniopolis Historical Society, which received a five-year lease on the building in early 1994.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.311339-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/94000773.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000773/dfbcc965c9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000773/dfbcc965c9-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uniopolis_Town_Hall,_front_with_angle.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uniopolis_Town_Hall,_front_with_angle.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986787","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniopolis_Town_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7886896"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/auglaize-county/uniopolis-town-hall-94000773/"}