Gunckel's Town Plan Historic District

Germantown, in Montgomery County, Ohio, was settled in 1804 and platted in 1814 by Philip Gunckel. This historic district covers about 40 acres at the town's center: Gunckel's eight original blocks plus four half blocks on the south side of Market Street. The plat uses a wide Market Street along a ridge above the Twin Creek flood plain, with public alleys and central squares in each block. Surviving buildings show the town's growth, from a steeple-notched log house and early Federal row buildings to Greek Revival, Italianate, Eastlake and Beaux Arts houses. Early public structures include the Leighty House, traditionally called Ohio's second oldest inn, the 1829 Germantown Brewery with its vaulted beer cellar, the 1829 First U.B. Church, the 1853 Calaboose and the 1858 Fire Engine House. The town was a prosperous farm community by the 1840s, later became a tobacco center after the railroad arrived in 1886, and then declined as tobacco processing ended. Its compact plan and range of buildings are the basis for its listing.