{"nrhp_refnum":"99000275","name":"St. Francis Seminary","other_names":["St. Francis Center for Peace and Renewal","New St. Francis Seraphic Seminary","Ham-3192-49"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"10290 Mill Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Hamilton County","state":"OH","lat":39.259433139000066,"lon":-84.54156010966837,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 128-acre former Franciscan seminary campus at 10290 Mill Road in Springfield Township, near Mount Healthy, Hamilton County, Ohio, centered on a three-story Italian Renaissance Revival building with a bell tower and chapel, built from 1923.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the seminary is significant under Criterion C for architecture as a rare local example of late 19th and 20th century revivals with Italian Renaissance Revival influence, designed by Anthony Kunz. It is described as a one-of-a-kind landmark in the community. The campus also holds student-built features and Franciscan murals and archives.","narrative":"St. Francis Seminary is a 128-acre campus on Mill Road in Springfield Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, built for the Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist. Its main building, begun in 1923, is a three-story Italian Renaissance Revival structure of buff brick with a hip roof, stone sills and belt course, wood eave brackets, and a central bell tower topped by a copper cross. Inside are a marble-wainscoted lobby, a chapel, dormitories, classrooms and canvas murals of Franciscan history. A 1923 sisters' house is linked to the seminary basement by an underground tunnel. Students added a grotto, summer house, entry wall and stone bridge. The seminary educated about 2,500 students before closing in 1981. The nomination cites its architecture, designed by Anthony Kunz, as the basis for significance, noting that the exterior has changed little. Today the grounds serve as a retreat and meeting center, and the building also houses Franciscan archives.","period_of_significance":"1923-1948","architect_builder":"Anthony Kunz, Trudbert Kunz, W.J. Beck","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals / Italian Renaissance","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The seminary closed in 1981. The property now operates as a meeting and retreat facility, shared by several groups and housing a few friars, and the chapel is rented by a local congregation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:06.838737-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/99000275.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000275/bd11d9c016-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000275/bd11d9c016-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Francis_Seminary_entrance.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Francis_Seminary_entrance.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988917","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis_Seminary_(Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7587992"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/hamilton-county/st-francis-seminary-99000275/"}