{"nrhp_refnum":"95001415","name":"Marion Cemetery Receiving Vault","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"620 Delaware Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marion","county":"Marion County","state":"OH","lat":40.57611045500005,"lon":-83.12222912399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-12-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story masonry cemetery receiving vault in the center of the original plat of Marion Cemetery, Delaware Avenue, Marion, Ohio, designed by Toledo architect David W. Gibbs and built in 1879.","why_significant":"It is an intact example of the receiving vault, a 19th-century building type that is vanishing from Ohio cemeteries and that helps explain funerary practices of the era. It is also the only cemetery building designed by architect David W. Gibbs, and it held the bodies of President Warren G. Harding and Florence Harding from 1923 until 1927.","narrative":"Built in 1879 at a cost of $2,500, this limestone receiving vault sits in the middle of the original Marion Cemetery plat in Marion, Ohio. Toledo architect David W. Gibbs designed it in the High Victorian Gothic style, with a pointed-arch entrance, stone quoins, a gabled slate roof and a wrought iron gate. Behind the entrance vestibule, an arched vault is covered by grass. Receiving vaults held the dead through winter, when frozen ground prevented digging, and protected bodies from grave robbers. Gibbs, known for courthouses and jails across Ohio, designed no other cemetery building. The vault gained national attention when President Warren G. Harding died in 1923; his body, guarded around the clock by soldiers, was placed there, and his wife joined him in 1924. Both were moved to the Harding Memorial in 1927. Their link to the building likely saved it from demolition. A community service project in 1993 raised funds to stabilize it, and only the building itself is listed, not the surrounding cemetery.","period_of_significance":"1879-1927","architect_builder":"David W. Gibbs, Toledo","architectural_style":"Late Victorian/High Victorian Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Used for storage by the cemetery association after ceasing its original purpose; stabilized in 1993-1994 with the wings rebuilt and stained glass windows installed. The form lists current function as funerary receiving vault.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.064329-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/95001415.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001415/6d898e5c06-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001415/6d898e5c06-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marion_Cemetery_Receiving_Vault.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marion_Cemetery_Receiving_Vault.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990185","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Cemetery_Receiving_Vault","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15247832"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/marion-county/marion-cemetery-receiving-vault-95001415/"}