Miami Street Grade School
Why it's listed
Built in 1884 on Miami Street in Tiffin, Ohio, this three-story brick building served as a grade school for the city's Third Ward until 1956. It has a slate truncated hip roof with gable dormers topped by finials, mullioned windows with cut stone lintels, a rock-faced ashlar foundation, and entrance arches inscribed with the date 1884. Inside, the original woodwork has been kept largely intact. Its significance rests on its architecture: it is described as an excellent local example of 1880s Gothic Revival applied to a school, a style the community otherwise used mainly for churches, with Heidelberg College's College Hall as the only other local educational example. It was built before Tiffin's industrial growth, when the town was a small rural county seat. After the school board abandoned it in 1956, Tiffin University bought it as the first property of a permanent campus, and it remains the university's main building.
Significance in brief: The revised statement calls it an excellent local example of 1880s Gothic Revival applied to an educational building, one of very few in the area. It is also one of only two surviving nineteenth-century public grade schools in Tiffin and reflects the value placed on education in a small county seat before the city's industrial boom.
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 79001945, listed March 21, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 155 Miami St., Tiffin |
|---|---|
| County | Seneca County |
| Listed | March 21, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79001945 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architect / builder | William H. Hollenberger |
| Architectural style | Gothic (Gothic Revival) |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied and in educational use as the main building of Tiffin University's campus; the interior woodwork is largely intact and the basement has been remodeled as a snack bar and lounge. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 41.11838, -83.18452 (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 79001945.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q138673014
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.