Groveport Town Hall Historic Group
Why it's listed
At the corner of Main and Front Streets in Groveport, three nineteenth-century brick buildings sit together on about one acre. The earliest is the Rarey-Giehl Residence, built around 1840 as a two-story gabled house on a stone foundation and later enlarged. Next door, the Faulhaber-Fornshell Residence dates from 1878 and has a slate truncated hip roof, a bracketed cornice and Eastlake-style porches. The Town Hall, also from 1878, is a three-story brick building about 60 by 90 feet with a largely intact pilastered stone storefront and an intact second-floor theatre. The land was once owned by William H. Rarey, who planned the town that bore his name. He sold the corner to the township and village in 1857 for a town hall, later built jointly with the Odd Fellows and Masons. The building has long served government, community and commercial uses. Together the three buildings form a cohesive group of local architecture and history.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents the three buildings as well-preserved examples of nineteenth-century domestic and commercial architecture in Groveport. They form a cohesive visual unit on an important corner, with the Town Hall as the architectural focal point. The Town Hall has served as a center of government and community activity since it was built.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 78002067, listed July 31, 1978. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 628, 632 Main and Main and Front Sts., Groveport |
|---|---|
| County | Franklin County |
| Listed | July 31, 1978 |
| Reference number | 78002067 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c. 1840-1878 |
| Architectural style | High Victorian Italianate (Town Hall); Eastlake-style porches on the Faulhaber-Fornshell Residence |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as well preserved, in excellent to good condition and altered. The residences have been well maintained. Restoration work on the Town Hall was about to begin with grant money. The Town Hall's second-floor theatre is intact. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 39.85146, -82.88244 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 78002067.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q136346141
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.