Findlay Downtown Historic District

Findlay's downtown historic district covers about 192 acres of commercial blocks and two residential neighborhoods along Main Street and nearby cross streets. It counts 298 structures, including 91 commercial buildings, 15 civic or religious buildings and 157 houses, along with 35 intrusions. The city grew from a War of 1812 fort on the Blanchard River, but the discovery of natural gas in 1884 and oil in 1885 drove its biggest expansion. Population rose from about 4,600 in 1880 to more than 18,000 by 1890, and most downtown commercial buildings date from that boom or were given newer facades then. Styles include Italianate, Romanesque, Second Empire and Queen Anne. Notable buildings include the 1886 Hancock County Courthouse, the Union-Haley Block, the Rawson Building, the Elks Lodge and St. Andrew's Methodist Church. South Main Street also holds large homes built for prosperous residents between about 1880 and 1920.