Berdan Building
Also known as: King Warehouse No. 1
Why it's listed
Rising five stories at 601 Washington in Toledo, this brick warehouse was built for the Berdan Company, wholesale grocers, and completed in 1902 to designs by Toledo architect George S. Mills. Its load-bearing brick walls carry wooden floors, and large delivery doors open at ground level, with terra cotta trim around the main doorway. Above, windows are grouped in tall arcaded ranks, topped by a fifth floor of smaller arches in sets of three. Each facade repeats the same pattern, which has often been compared with H. H. Richardson's Marshall Field Warehouse in Chicago. The company's roots reach to 1836, when Valentine Ketcham began trading in Toledo; John Berdan, the city's first mayor, was among the pioneer families involved, and the Berdan name took hold after 1854. The building is valued as an excellent example of early twentieth-century commercial architecture and as a Toledo landmark of first importance.
Significance in brief: The building is described as an excellent example of early 20th-century commercial style, with an unusually distinctive window pattern on its load-bearing walls that makes it a Toledo landmark. It is also tied to the Ketcham, Secor and Berdan pioneer families, including John Berdan, Toledo's first mayor, whose wholesale grocery business grew from 1836.
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 75001468, listed May 29, 1975. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 601 Washington St., Toledo |
|---|---|
| County | Lucas County |
| Listed | May 29, 1975 |
| Reference number | 75001468 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1902 |
| Architect / builder | George S. Mills, Toledo architect |
| Architectural style | Early 20th century commercial style |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition listed as excellent and unaltered, on its original site; present use is commercial. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Huron-Superior Streets Warehouse-Produce Historic District |
| Coordinates | 41.64840, -83.54084 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
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 75001468.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q117066094
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.