Franklin College Building No. 5
Also known as: New Athens Elementary School
Why it's listed
Built in 1900, this 2-1/2 story brick building on Main Street in New Athens, Ohio, was the fifth and last major home of Franklin College. Designed by the Columbus firm of Yost and Packard, it is a slightly H-shaped Georgian Revival structure with Palladian windows, a pedimented portico with Corinthian capitals, dormers, a hipped roof and an octagonal cupola. A 1909 gymnasium stands beside it. The college began as Alma Academy in 1818, took the Franklin name in 1826 and closed in 1921, merging with Muskingum College. Over that span it granted 796 baccalaureate degrees, nearly half to men who became clergymen, and it was the first Ohio college to graduate a black student. After the college closed, the building passed to the local board of education and became a school. With the older college buildings gone and the commercial block lost to fire in 1925, it is the best surviving reminder of New Athens as a thriving educational and commercial center.
Significance in brief: It is the last representative of Franklin College, which shaped the history and development of New Athens and educated large numbers of Presbyterian clergymen and other prominent graduates. It is also the town's most architecturally distinctive building and a well-executed example of Georgian Revival work by Yost and Packard, a leading Ohio firm.
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 87000687, listed May 8, 1987. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Main St., New Athens |
|---|---|
| County | Harrison County |
| Listed | May 8, 1987 |
| Reference number | 87000687 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1900 |
| Architect / builder | Yost & Packard |
| Architectural style | Georgian Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Education, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied and in educational use as New Athens Elementary School; condition listed as good and altered, with the interior extensively remodeled in 1950 and a modern one-story addition on the south side. |
| Acreage | 3 |
| Coordinates | 40.18750, -80.99618 (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 87000687.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5491370
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.