HISTORICALAND ARCHITECTURAL TOUR

HHISTORICAL AND AARCHITECTURAL TTOURBY FOOT OR BICYCLE

www.ci.xenia.oh.us

Project of the City of XeniaPlanning and Zoning Department101 North Detroit St.Xenia, Ohio 45385www.ci.xenia.oh.us

James W. PercivalCity Manager

Project Team

Project CoordinatorNimfa Simpson, AICPCity Planner

Project AssistantJeffrey ZieglerZoning Enforcement Officer

Cartographer/Layout DesignerAndy Aidt, AICP

Historical ReferenceJoan BaxterDirector of Greene County Historical Society (retired)

Information contained in this Historical Walking and Biking Tour was obtained from the following sources:

Historical and Architectural Inventory for the City of XeniaPrinted Historical Narrative of NeighborhoodsGreene County Historical SocietyGreene County Geographic Information SystemVisual Observation and Information Provided By Property Owners

August 2009 edition

This edition updates previously printed Historical and Architectural Brochures; the first has an undated publication; the second was published in 1995.

HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL TOURBY FOOT OR BICYCLE

The City of Xenia, home to approximately 25,000 residents, is located in Greene County insouthwestern Ohio. It was laid out of forestland in 1803 by Joseph C. Vance and was incor-porated in 1817 with 270 acres and 88 inhabitants. Xenia became a City in 1834.

Xenia celebrated its bicentennial year in 2003. From its original size of 270 acres, Xeniahas expanded to 7,776 acres or about 12.15 square miles.

A beautiful turn-of-the century stone courthouse with a dramatic clock tower marks thegovernment center of town at Detroit and Main Streets. Detroit Street, which divides theeast and west sections of town, was part of the historic Bullskin Trace that ran from Detroit,Michigan to Bullskin Creek, where it empties into the Ohio River, near Ripley. BullskinTrace is a significant historic route traveled by such famous legends as Tecumseh andSimon Kenton.

Xenia prospered because of the rail industry that used the center of Xenia as a main railtransfer depot for passengers coming from different parts of the Country. The strategiclocation of Xenia enabled the City to maintain a diversified economy even after the demiseof the railroad industry.

Xenia took advantage of the railroad rights-of-way by transforming them into biking andhiking trails. Because of this, Xenia has become noted for the three regional bike trails thatnow converge in Xenia Station Bicycle Hub on Miami Ave. A fourth bike trail leading tothe Village of Jamestown is underway.

In 1974 a Category F5 tornado destroyed a significant part of “Old Xenia”. The reconstruc-tion from this tragedy gives Xenia a distinctive “new” and “old” look. Many of the old andhistoric homes and buildings have been restored to their late 19th and 20th century look;but, tragically, a significant portion of the traditional and historic downtown and residentialstructures have been lost forever.

History

www.ci.xenia.oh.us


Typical of older and historical towns, Xenia has a collection of architec-ture representing various stylistic movements. The predominant stylesinclude a heavy concentration of High Victorian Italianate, Eastlake,Queen Anne, Federal, and Greek Revival. In addition, a mixture of cot-tage residences, vernacular and eclectic structures complement the classicarchitectural styles and add a variety to the panorama of the City.

Xenia is fortunate to have many of its historical neighborhoods preserved.Tree lined streets, detailed iron fences with ornate gates, original hitchingposts, ornamental street lights and garden ornaments provide distinctivefeatures to these neighborhoods and make for interesting offerings ofbicycle and walking tours.

The walking and biking tours will take you to numerous historic neigh-borhoods, notably, Waterstreet Historic District and East Second HistoricDistrict that are on the National Register of Historic Places, CarnegieHistoric Neighborhood, a locally designated historic district, BullskinTrace (South Detroit) and North End Neighborhoods that have a widevariety of architectural styles.

Scattered throughout the City‘s landscape are individual sites that havebeen determined as historical or are individually listed on the NationalRegister of Historic Places.

Historical Sites

For the walking tour, start at theGreene County Historical Societybuilding located at 74 West ChurchStreet.

If you are taking the biking tour, startat the Xenia Station Hub located at150 Miami Avenue where ampleparking is available. Starting pointsfor individual district and neighbor-hood tours are indicated on the maps.

Directions:

www.ci.xenia.oh.us


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Scattered Sites

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3 - 1000 E. Church St.;Middle Run Baptist Church

Founded by Reverend GodfreyBrown in 1822 as part of theearliest Afro-American settle-ment in the country, it moved in1866 to its present site. It is oneof the oldest churches in Xenia.

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1- N. Detroit St.;Shawnee Park;

Considered one of the bestclassical designed parks inOhio; it is the premier parkwhere residents go for funand relaxation and listen toconcerts in the park in thesummer. The origin of thepark came about when in1925, Patrick H. Flynn gave10 acres to the citizens ofXenia in memory of his wife,Elizabeth Flynn. The center-piece of the park is the pavil-ion, which was first built in1928. The money raised tohelp build the pavilion wasfrom various public mindedcitizens and Eavey Company.Donors are listed on a plaqueon the front of the pavilion.The pavilion was later rebuiltat a cost of $325,000 after the1974 Xenia tornado. Themain entrance to the park isoff N. Park St. and is adjoinedby two monument columnsrepresenting the Xenia Centu-ry High School Classes of1874 - 1902.

2 - 578 E. Market St.;Xenia Board of Education;ca. 1894

This Mediterranean stylebuilding was built as an ele-mentary building at a cost of$29,000. The building wasconstructed for the blackyouth of the City. After near-ly 20 years, an addition wasmade to the building for ahigh school costing $150,000in 1923. After another newhigh school was built, the ele-mentary students were movedinto the high school buildingand the original elementarybuilding was torn down, withthat portion of the site nowused as a parking lot. Theremaining building was incontinuous use until June of1963, when the school waspermanently closed. Studentswere sent to other elementaryschools in the City.In 1966, the building was ren-ovated to use as the XeniaCenter for Educational Pro-gramming. For the first time,classrooms were carpeted.The school was only open 5years and after more remodel-ing, the building was put touse as the AdministrationBuilding for the Board ofEducation. The school build-ing is the oldest in the City,and continues to serve thecommunity in its newer role.

4 - 95 N. Patton St.; ca.1887; Water Tower;Oldest water tower in service inOhio, second oldest in service inUnited States. This old modelwater tower is designed with riv-eted steel plates. Newer modelsare made out of welded steelplates. The water tower hasserved citizens of Xenia since1887 and has a capacity of270,000 gallons.

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HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL TOURBY FOOT OR BICYCLEwww.ci.xenia.oh.us

7- 424 ½ S. Detroit St.;ca. 1840

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6 - 150 Miami Ave.; XeniaStation

Xenia Station is located on thesite of Xenia‘s old rail yard andwas completed on May 23,1998. It is a replica of thenineteenth century telegraphbuilding that used to be one ofthe buildings in this seven-acrerailroad depot.

This Italianate Old Style two-story overlooks the former raildepot in Xenia, which is the cur-rent site of Xenia Station. Lewisand Hannah Wright constructedthis house and used it as aboarding school for girls. TheSchool was unprofitable and thehouse was later sold to LesterArnold, the first Mayor of Xenia.The house used to have a porticowith an ornate roof flanked bysix columns. Unfortunately,these ornamentations are gone.

8 - 677 S. Cincinnati Ave.;ca. 1869; Hooven & AllisonXenia’s oldest industrial com-plex manufactured twine andcordage starting in 1870. It fea-tures several brick industrialbuildings with 12/12 DHS win-dows with limestone sills andlimestone foundation. It was acommunity within itself withcottages, school, chapel and ahospital. The distinguishinglandmark is a brick smoke stack.

9 325 Homewood Ave.; ca.1869; Legacy MinistriesLegacy Ministries Campus is a253-acre, 40-building campusstrategically located in thesoutheast section of Xenia. It isthe home of Dayton ChristianSchools, Inc., the Legacy Vil-lage senior housing community,Legacy Assisted Living, theLegacy Ministries Foundation,and LMI Services, Inc and theheadquarters of Athletes InAction. The Legacy Center, hadbeen the Ohio Soldiers‘ andSailors’ Orphans‘ Home, whichwas established in 1869 to pro-vide a home for the orphans ofveterans of the Civil War. The“Home” as it is still fondlycalled, was a self-containedcommunity with a farm, dairybarn, hospital, power/heatingplant, gymnasium, banquet hall,chapel, and residence halls. Thehistorical buildings in the cam-pus have been restored to theiroriginal architecture. The cam-pus in itself would require itsown walking tour.

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5- 565 E. Main St.; ca.1839; Zion Baptist Church;This is the fourth oldest Mis-sionary Baptist Church in Ohio.Zion Baptist Church providedshelter for people during the1913 Dayton flood. The struc-ture reflects a RomanesqueRevival style.

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BBullskin TraceNeighborhood

1 438 S. Detroit St.;ca. 1890

This Queen Ann features aTuscan-columned full frontporch; pedimented dormer;polygonal bay; fish scaleshingles; lead glass oak entrydoor.


This Victorian cottage fea-tures fluted square pierssupporting corner portico;1/1 DHS windows; a hippedroof dormer on South side;shingled gable; and a sun-burst in front gable.

3 467 South Detroit St.;ca. 1875This Eastlake structure fea-tures an original spindledporch L-shaped with a pedi-mented, scrolled entry. It hascorner brackets and 1/1 DHSwindows and includes anEastlake inspired porch atthe rear.

HistoryBullskin Trace, which is present day Detroit Street, isone of the more notable prehistoric Indian passages andwas ranked as very important along with the SciotoTrail, Kenton Trail, and the Winchester Trace. BullskinTrace is more closely associated with Shawnee Indiansettlements, the most famous and largest of which isOld Chillicothe, presently Old Town. Pioneer frontiers-men, Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton, were two of themore famous prisoners of the Shawnee Tribe and werebelieved to have escaped from their captivity on sepa-rate occasions by following the Bullskin Trace.

By legislative enactment on February 4, 1807, theBullskin Trace became “Xenia State Road.” The enact-ment provided for a road right-of-way sixty-six feetwide throughout its course. Because of its early officialestablishment as the “Old Xenia Road,” it is consideredthe mother of Ohio‘s present system of state highways.Bullskin Trace Neighborhood is a residential develop-ment of the architectural transition period from Victori-an and Post Victorian design. There are several largebrick Victorian Italianates, an assortment of small ver-nacular structures with clearly Victorian features, and avariety of Eastlake and Queen Anne influences. Thepost-Victorian houses are of the following styles: Bun-galows, Dutch Colonials, Tudors, and Cape Cod Cot-tages.

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4 477 S. Detroit St.;ca. 1890This structure of Queen AnnInfluence, features a projectingfront gable with fish scale shin-gles in the pediment; 1/1 DHSwindows, and a transomed entryunder a curving L shaped East-lake first story porch. A smallEastlake porch is on the interiorof the L at the second story.


Gothic; features an L-shapedEastlake inspired porch; fishscale shingles and a sunburstin the gable; brackets at thecornice line and 1/1DHSwindows.


Queen Anne Influence; Gablesproject from the roofline sup-ported by polygonal wings;structure also has a full frontporch supported by granite col-umns and with a stone base; anart glass window is on thesouth side.


Queen Anne Influence; fea-tures a Tuscan-columned fullfront porch; polygonal bayunder front gable.


Bungalow; Features a sym-metrical plan; full frontporch with mounted squarepiers, long 6/6 DHS win-dows flanking entry door;wide, flat roof dormer with1/1 DHS windows.


Cottage; features three chim-neys; fish scale shingles infront single-story gables; anEastlake inspired pedimentedporch; 2/2 DHS windows;soldiers arches at the win-dows.

10 - 708 S. Detroit St.;ca. 1870

Federal; features an L-shapedIonic columned full front porchwith a balustrade atop; entiretyover a transomed and side light-ed entry; structure also has lime-stone lintel over 2/2 DHS win-dows; a polygonal bay on southside.

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Possible Neo-Classic design;features much stone trim work,limestone lintels over the1/1DHS windows; limestoneportico with square piers andmiscellaneous stone trim workat the cornice and throughoutthe façade.


Federal; features a transomedentry and side lights under anadded Eastlake inspired frontporch with sunburst; also has6/6 DHS windows.


Colonial Revival; features anIonic columned full frontporch, the central projectionof which reached a full twostories. A balustradeaccompanies the single storywings of the porch.

14 885 S. Detroit St.;ca. 1870Victorian Italianate; features atransomed entry; 1/1 and 2/2DHS windows; incised stonehood moulds; and a mansardroofed entry portico; dentils andbrackets are at the cornice line.The Thornhill family, whoowned a saw and planning millnorth of Xenia and who builtmany homes in Xenia, built thehouse.


Queen Anne; features apolygonal bay, a roof dormer,second story porch and entry,front gable, tower with porch,pedimented entry porticowith sunburst over an oakentry door.

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Carnegie Historic District


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1 194 East Church St.;ca. 1906; Carnegie LibraryNeo-Classical Revival; built byWilliam Kauffman Associate ofPittsburg, Pennsylvania andfunded by famous industrialist,Andrew Carnegie. Featureselaborate entablature around thewindows and doorways, andCorinthian columns on theporch. The interior center roomcontains synthetic marble onplaster base for wainscoting anddome columns.

HistoryXenia City Council designated the Carnegie Historic District as a localhistoric district on November 25, 1999. This designation was based onthe significance of the neighborhood for its architecture and role inXenia‘s history. The Carnegie Historic District is located on East ChurchStreet and East Market Street to the north and south, and WhitemanStreet to the West and extending into the City of Xenia’s historic EastEnd. The neighborhood gets its name from the Carnegie Library locatedat the corner of Edison Blvd. and East Church St. that was commis-sioned by Andrew Melon Carnegie, the famous Pittsburg industrialist.The structure represents neo-revival architecture.

The original town square that was the origin of the town Xenia includeda portion of the Carnegie Neighborhood. The first expansions of Xeniawere towards the neighborhood represented by the Lewis and MonroeAddition in 1839. One of the platters of this expansion is David Monroewho built his house at 246 East Market St. was well known as an Aboli-tionist. His house served as a “station” on the Underground Railroad.The other man who helped layout the Lewis and Monroe Addition wasDaniel Lewis. Daniel Lewis was the builder of the fifth Greene CountyJail in 1834. Lewis was also responsible for building the first publicbuilding in Xenia, which housed the administrative offices of the court-house. Daniel Lewis and David Monroe were the proprietors of OldTown, a small town just north of Xenia.

The District boasts a wide representation of architectural styles: Eastlake,Classic Revival, Greek revival, Italianate, Federal, or Queen Anne. TheDistrict residents have proudly purchased plaques for their homes identi-fying the style of their homes and their historic names.

2 133 E. Market St.;ca. 1850Federal. The symmetrical baysand 6 over 6DH windows withthe hipped roof make this anexcellent example of Federalstyle. This home has plain stonelintels over the windows and themain door. The chimney isplaced centrally. There is asmall-arcaded porch on the leftside of the house. The structureis part of the original plat ofXenia that was laid out in 1803.This is currently used as anoffice.

3 143 E. Market St.;ca. 1914

Bungaloid, designed by Prêt,Zinger and Musselman, Dayton.House has a large front porchwith two columns in antis. Thereis an interesting cornice trim andrectilinear patterns are pressedinto stucco walls and hippedoverhang. Charles Carroll familypurchased the house in 1928 fromthe original owners, the Moores,who suffered disastrous financiallosses in the 1929 stock marketcrash. It is currently used as aGreene County Facility.

4 151 E. Market St.;ca. 1890Queen Anne; features Ashlarwater table. Front porch withsmooth ashlar pillars and rail-ing with decorative wroughtiron. Variety of window styles.Clipped gable ends with fasciaand large boards. There are twostuccoed chimneys with pat-terned brick work.

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8 231 E. Market St.;ca. 1890

Greek revival; The front façadedominated by two tiered fourcolumned Tuscan order porti-cos with skirt between first andsecond floors. Single light 1/1DH windows have lug sills andlintels.

9 243 E. Market St.;ca. 1880

Colonial with elements of GreekRevival. The recessed porch isheld up by 3 Tuscan columns.The porch enclosure is a whitespindled railing. The attic levelof the façade has 3 square win-dows side by side. The gabledroof is complemented by a cor-nice on the front façade.

10 246 E. Market St.;ca. 1860

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5 189 E. Market St.;ca. 1890Classic Revival; Tri-gable roof;The main feature of this house isthe masonry porch on the northand west elevations, with fivepolished granite columns. Mostwindows have a unique two layerlintels. A large Chicagostylewindow with rectangulartransom and beveled glass is onthe north elevation and a semicir-cular window with Tiffany typestained glass lights the foyerfrom the east elevation. FrankLloyd Wright inspiration.

6 195 E. Market St.;ca. 1900Dutch Colonial- inspired; Gablewith hip top roof. The fenestra-tion is the house‘s dominantfeature. The first floor north ele-vation has a large prism glassChicago style window rectangu-lar transom and an oak doorwith patterned, beveled glasswindow. A semicircular stainedglass window is on the east ele-vation. The front porch has 4fluted columns with Ionic capsthat support the roof.

7 204 E. Market St.;ca.1908-1910Gothic Renewal. The doubledoorway is arched with a multi-paned transom and has concretesteps to the sidewalk. The front3 windows are multipaned,stained glass gothic arched. Theside-plated tower has a battle-ment around the top. The ran-dom ashlar exterior wall givesthe church an authentic “oldstyle” look. There are pointedarch vents on all sides of thetower.

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Greek revival; features recessedtruncated windows and recessedtruncated main entrance withstone hood mold in central bay;has wood door with two verticallights flanked by pilasters andleaded glass side lights andtopped with leaded glass semicir-cular fan light. Once the home ofMr. David Monroe, owner of afurniture store and an engineer onthe Underground Railroad. Thishouse was a major stop in theOhio Railroad and is so recog-nized with a historical marker.


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11 253 E. Market St.;ca. 1809Queen Anne. Eastlake typeporch on front left (Northelevation). There is plain wood-en cornice with boxed eaves.The gable has fish scale shingles.The roof has half-turret dormer,window, lintels, and plain cor-nice. Polygonal bay on east ele-vation with 1/1 DH windows.There is a cupola in the center ofthe roof.

12 299 E. Market St.;ca.1880

Possible Vernacular or Crafts-man Style. Porch wraps aroundfaçade to the east to one storyrear addition. Off-center entrancedoor is flanked by elongatedwindows. Hipped roof porchwith square posts.

13 290 E. Market St.;ca. 1840

Greek revival style. Rectangularwindows flank entrance under aflat roofed, one-story full façadeporch. Rectangular columns onfront porch. Narrow proportionsand unusual scale and setback ofthis dwelling suggest an alterna-tive original use.

14 129 North Monroe St.;ca. 1860

Federal (vernacular) sturdy brickwith walls running bond withheaders every tenth course.Heavy simple interior woodworkcomplements the general sturdi-ness of the building. This houseand the house to the north forman interesting pair of nearly iden-tical buildings.

15 245 E. Church St.;ca. 1890Victorian Cottage; Front façadeshared by polygonal bay withsash windows with architravesurround and a segmental porchwith Eastlake style ornamenta-tion. Wooden panel door hassquare multi-paned window.Roof is a front facing entranceon cross gable section. Closed-in veranda on rear of house.


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17 227 E. Church St.;ca. 1885High Victorian Italianate, One-story veranda, three Ionic flutedcolumns, rock face railing, maindoor is in first bay, decorativecarving, flanking pilasters, semi-circle transom. Floor length win-dows, decorative incised woodenpedimented surround. Secondstory, has the same treatment, butsegmental arched window top.Cornice with brackets, and mul-lions interspersed. Right side-box bay, left polygonal bay, win-dow treatment same, addition inrear entrance.

18 207 E. Church St.;ca. 1924

Federal. A good example of Fed-eral style house. The porch isheld up by 2 columns toppedwith triangular pediments. Thehouse has 3 bays and windowsare symmetrically placed in bays.There is a porch added to theeast side of the house in the 20thcentury. This house is on a largelot surrounded by trees. Theexterior is in excellent condition.

19 270 E. Church St.;ca. 1880Eastlake. This Eastlake stylehouse has a porch across thefront façade. Original pilasterswere removed. A Chicago win-dow and 18 light panel doorenhance the front. Three gableddormers, the front dormer havingscalloped shingles and decorativework at top. There is a box cor-nice surrounding the house andacentral chimney of masonry,slightly corbelled.

20 236 E. Church St.;ca. 1923

Bungalow. This is a unique oneof a kind building in the area.The oval porch with Greek col-umns is the highlight of thisbuilding. The two windows onthe façade are Palladian type.The flat roof is the only one inthe area. The porch and slopedfront façade have Spanish tilecovering them.

21 229 Hayes Ave.;ca. 1900

The front door has a brokenpediment in the 3 bay frontfaçade. There is a circular win-dow placed in the center of thefaçade above the door. This isthe only colonial style house inthe neighborhood.16

16 233 E. Church St.;ca. 1889Vernacular with Eastlake influ-ence. Entrances on porches infirst and second bays. First porchin re-entrant angle with posts,pierced brackets, bracketed friezeand flat roof. Second bay porchwith turned posts, spindled rail-ing, pierced brackets, spindledfrieze and very heavily decoratedpedimented gable end withreturns. Majority of windows are1/1 DHS with architrave sur-rounds. This building adds to thecharacter of the district. EarlCarter worked on the railroadand he could not receive a pay-check unless he had a Xeniaaddress, so he built this house.


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Downtown


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1 45 N. Detroit St.;ca. 1901; Greene CountyCourt house;Italian/Florentine Style. Twostone griffins guard the DetroitStreet entrance and the two gar-goyles are found on each side ofthe heavy stone building. Towerreaches 145 feet in height and itincludes a four-faced clock and a4500 lb bell. The unique designhas marble stairs, arched win-dows and ceiling. Voted by theAmerican Institute of Architectsas one of the “Buildings Of theCentury” because it has the dis-tinction of lasting forever, hav-ing survived the 1974 tornado. Itinspires civic pride with richexterior and interior details.

HistoryXenia Downtown was once a vibrant commercial and government centerwhere Xenia residents congregated for their shopping and service needs.The railway had one of its main tracts bisecting the downtown along theeast side of Detroit Street and it stopped for passengers along the way. Thedowntown area contained a variety of shops, homes, hotels, groceries, gov-ernmental offices and churches. The downtown streets followed a typicalgrid pattern with Main Street and Detroit Street as the main cross-roads. Avariety of architectures lined these streets with wide tree lawns and tallmajestic trees. This landscape was permanently altered with the 1974 tor-nado that ravaged half of the downtown area. The redevelopment of theXenia Downtown resulted in the consolidation of parcels north of MainStreet between North Detroit Street and South Church Street and out ofthis emerged the Xenia Towne Square Center. Fortunately, the buildingssouth of Main Street were spared including the some of the important gov-ernmental buildings such as the magnificent Greene County Courthouseand Xenia City Hall and this enabled the downtown to hold on to the gov-ernment function. Xenia Downtown is marked by “the old” and the “newdowntown” providing for the convenience of a modern shopping centerand the flavor of the old traditional downtown.

2 101 N. Detroit St.;ca. 1930; Xenia City Hall;Art Deco building features araised basement; projecting andrecessing bays alternating withentries in projecting bays; flutingbetween bays and flankingentries; double glass entry doorsand casement windows. Interiorfloors and stairs are marble. In1990, an addition to City Hall wasconstructed, almost doubling thesize of the original building.

3 105 Market St.;ca. 1929; Ellis Building;English tudor architecture.Building was used for the E.R.Bryant Ford Company. Mr. Bry-ant was a brother-in-law ofHenry Ford. The business wassold by Bryant in 1945 to E.B.“Eddie” Ellis. In 1966, Ken Colebought the Dealership then latersold it to Jim Gunning in 1976.The operation closed in Septem-ber of 1980, having been a Forddealership the entire time. TheEllis family continued to ownthe building until Greene Countyacquired it for its governmentuse.

4 63 E. Church St.;ca. 1907; Christ EpiscopalChurch;The church cost approximately$8,000 to construct under theleadership of Reverend Mr.Henry J. Simpson. Architecturalstyle is of English Gothicinspired from a church inTrowbridge, England. Archedmain entrance under bell tower.Exterior is of stone and woodframe arch windows. The win-dows were originally stainedglass, but all these except for thefront windows were damaged bythe 1974 tornado.

5 152 N. Detroit St.;ca. 1833; CornerstoneBible Church;Formerly the First ReformedChurch; The current building wasdedicated on October 2, 1910.The building is of RomanesqueRevival style and is made ofstone exterior. There are two archentrances to the Church and thewindows have beautiful stainedglass. This church was the onlystructure that survived the 1974tornado in thisblock.


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8 13 E. Main St.Oasis Cafe;Victorian Gothic architecturebuilt in 1867 as the First Nation-al Bank (originally located on 73S. Detroit St.) later renamedXenia National Bank. In 1943, itexpanded by building onto thelot east of the corner, with theconstruction matching the origi-nal 1867 structure. In 1955, thebank moved and the buildingbecame home to several restau-rants, starting with Frisch’s.

7 10 W. Main St.;ca. 1875; Allen Building;The Allen building was built bythe former president of theXenia National Bank, John B.Allen. There have been severalbusinesses and law firms thathave occupied this building,including the Xenia Gazette.This is a Romanesque Revivalwhich features arched windowson the third floor. The flat roofused to have a balustrades whichhave long been removed.

The Dodds building features paired granite Corinthian columns.This building was designed and built for apartments in 1903 dur-ing the St. Louis World‘s Fair. This building houses beautifulrestored stained glass windows that once graced a chapel at Berga-mo Center in Beavercreek, Ohio. The stained glass windows werecrafted by F. X. Zettler Stained Glass Window Co. in Munich andthey depict Saints and scenes from the life of Jesus.

9 21 E. Main Street.;Xenia Shoe & Leather;The western storefront has halfmoon windows planked bycolumns. The easternstorefront has squared win-dows, also planked by columns.Second and third floors have a4-panel door with a transomwindow above for stairwaylighting. This building under-went extensive façade renova-tion and restoration in 2006.

10 73 South Detroit St.;Bank of Xenia;This is the original bank buildingbuilt by John Hivling. This build-ing is on the Ohio HistoricInventory and on the NationalRegister of Historic Places. Thisis a two story, temple form GreekRevival building. The building isa pilastered rectangle with themain door centered in one endand sheltered by a one bayentrance porch. In 1832 and 1834,Ohio pioneers Simon Kenton andJames Galloway sold the proper-ty to Brinton Baker, a son-in-lawof John Hivling. The bank‘sdoors were opened on June 1,1835. It continued to be used as abank building until a new facilitywas built on the corner of MainSt. and Detroit St.

11 161 E. Main St.;Security National Bank;

It is the site of present day Secu-rity National Bank and the fore-runner of the first bank inGreene County that was startedby John Hivling. The buildingopened in 1956. Society Bankoccupied, the building and in1984 the bank was bought outby Security National Bank, thecurrent bank owner. The archi-tecture represents a colonialrevival style containing distin-guishable features of centralentrance and formal symmetry.

12 189 E. Main St.;ca.1913; Xenia Post Office;

Beaux Arts; building features araised basement; 6/6 DHS win-dows and a Colossal Ionic pil-lared projecting portico with bal-ustrade. Entry features a transom.

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6 123 W. Main St.;ca. 1864; Dodds Monument;

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On the National Register of Historic Places


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Waterstreet HistoricDistrict

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5 75 W. Second St.;ca. 1865;

Eclectic; stone steps to a full-length wood porch, tongue andgroove floor, upper deck support-ed on tuscan columns with cen-tral projection topped with wood-en head. Low gabled roof, boxedcornice with frieze decorated withdentals and brackets.

1 253 W. Second St.;ca. 1875;

High Victorian by Dr. Ira W.Baldwin, an eminent regionalphysician. Features four bayfaçade with pavilion in the firsttwo bays, entrance in the thirdbay. Ornamental wrought ironfence adorn the yard.

2 195 W. Second St.;ca. 1900;

Queen Anne; features two bayfaçade with a pavilion in theright bay. Neo-classical porchwith central pediment. Imbri-cated shingles in the tympa-num.

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HistoryThis district was entered in the National Register of Historic Places in1980 and is considered one of the oldest sections of Xenia. The first cabinerected within the city limits in 1804 was on West Third Street and the firstschoolhouse, a one-story log cabin built in 1805 was in this district. TheWaterstreet Historic District derives its name from W. Third Street, former-ly called Water Street in the 1800‘s. For many years, Water Street servedas the southern boundary of the City and was one of the most attractivesections in Xenia.

Waterstreet Historic District is graced with a variety of architectural designreflecting craftsmanship of a by-gone era. The architecture includes postCivil War Renaissance Revival to Queen Anne design in the “Eastlakemode” and fine Old Federal styles.

3 194 W. Second St.;ca. 1895;

Queen Anne features sideporch with decorative column.This home features variedrooflines and variety of win-dow and shapes.

4 102.W. Second St.;ca. 1875;

High Victorian Italianate struc-ture. Charles Darlington importedan Austrian etched glass three-part transom over the entry. On ahigh stone foundation; three bayfaçade with entrance in the firstbay; wood panel door and triple-hung windows.


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6 17 West Third/cornerS. Detroit St.; ca. 1908;The Eavey Grocery Warehousewas built by Henry Eavey in1869. Mr. Eavey started hiswholesale business here. It wasthe forerunner of the presentSuper Valu Warehouse. Goodexample of an old brick ware-house structure with foot- thickwalls.

7 57 W. Third St.; ca.1885;

Queen Anne influence featuringside porch with column and dec-orative corner brackets; Truncat-ed hip roof with side and frontside gables; off center front sidechimney.

8 61 W. Third St.;ca. 1875;

Victorian Italianate featuringfour bay façade with entrance atthe first bay. Right three bays arepavilion with polygonal bay.This home was built by theThornhill family.

9 90 W. Third St.;ca. 1875;

Queen Anne Architecture. Thishouse was owned by HenryEavey and his descendants. Thelocation of the house was conve-nient for Mr. Eavey‘s wholesalebusiness at the end of W. ThirdSt. and a proper location for awealthy Xenia family.


12 169 W. Third St.;ca. 1876;

Italianate with Eastlake Porchwith turned pillars and lattice-work. Constructed of brick;highly recognized for its orna-mental value. This home hasseven fireplaces. Original ownerwas Albert Barber, early XeniaMerchant.

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10 113 W. Third St.;ca 1890;This is the home of HelenHooven Santmyer, a noted authorfrom Xenia. Some of her worksinclude: And Ladies of The Cluband Ohio Town. Recognized as alandmark during Xenia’s bicen-tennial year celebration and isidentified by a bicentennialmarker.

11 127 W.Third St.;ca. 1840;Victorian Italianate style notedfor its beautiful detailed entryand exceptional arched and win-dow trimmings. The house mostfamous resident was JacobBaldner, the Supt. of AmericanCordage Co. and manufacturer ofthe Baldner Motor Vehicle Co.,two 18th century industries.

13 195 W. Third St.;ca. 1904;Georgian Revival featuring aporch with Ionic columns andarched doorway. A stained glassfanlight set back in its frame isover this entrance. Currently isthe site of the Evangelical Unit-ed Methodist Church building,was formerly the Xenia Theo-logical Seminary. It was firstknown as Mrs. Hanna‘s Semi-nary and was for women only.

14 255 W. Third St; ca. 1840;

with addition ca. 1870;Late Federal and oldest building inthe District; Two-story L-shapedbrick house with rusticated stonefoundation and a 5-bay façade; stonesteps lead to a central doorwaywhich is recessed. Windows on firstand second floor are trimmed withwooden surrounds and sills. Thereare two inside chimneys on sideswith caps. Two-story brick additionin southwest rear with chimney andframe addition with shiplap sidingthe brick addition. The interior ofthis house was completely renovatedin 2007 which resulted in its conver-sion back to its original single-family use.

This was the site of first log cabinbuilt in Xenia.

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North EndNeighborhood


2 208 N. King St.;ca. 1850;

Torrence, whose brother wasfamous poet Ridgely Torrence,bought the home from AndrewBaughman. Represents GreekRevival style.

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1 184 N. King St.;ca. 1871;

The Millen-Schmidt house byEli Millen, a dry goods merchant.Italian Villa Style with a rockfaced Romanesque porch.

3 228 N. King St.;ca. 1871;

Built by Andrew BaughmanBought later by James ChewFamily, former owner of theXenia Gazette. Large, imposingstructure with a projecting cen-tral bay featuring quoins, roundheaded entry. It is one of the fewprivate homes in Greene Countywith elevators. It has recentlybeen extensively renovatedinside and out.

4 245 N. King St.;ca. 1869; “Dean Home”;

13- room Mid-Victoriantownhouse is essentially Federalin style. Features arch main entrywith matching arch windows.

74 W. Church St.Greene County Historical SocietyThis square includes the Victorian Town House,the museum for the society that was built in1887, representing a Queen Anne Style archi-tecture, The Galloway Log House circa 1799,originally built in Old Chillicothe and moved toits current location in 1965. It is believed to bethe structure in which the famous ShawneeChief Tecumseh, proposed marriage to a whitewoman named Rebecca Galloway. In 1990, theBrantley Carriage House Museum was added tothis square and it now serves as a museum andoffice of the Society.



8 413 N. King St.;ca. 1900;

Four peaking rooftops above awide late-Victorian veranda arenotable features of this beautifulhome.

7 377 N. King St.;ca. 1905;

Built by Samuel Patterson fea-tures Corinthian columns carvedout of oak used rarely in archi-tecture.

6 364 N. King St.;ca. 1864;

Victorian Italianate Style bySamuel Patterson architect, car-penter and carver. This homeconsists of three bays with entryon side and a wood panel entrydoor.



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9 445 N. King St.;ca. 1892;

Features arched porch with solidsquare columns;stucco material

55 252 N. King St.;ca. 1890;

Beautiful example of QueenAnne Style featuring a cornerturret over an L-shaped porch;varied rooflines and variety ofwindow sizes and shapes.


12 498 N. Galloway St.;ca. 1898;

Mansion-like featuring a Tuscancolumned projecting portico andlimestone lintels, several polygo-nal bays and pitched and round-headed dormers and steep gables.

11 626 N. King St.;ca. 1870;

Beautiful example of VictorianGothic; features a central project-ing bay with steep gable andsmaller but as steep gables oneither side.

10 473 N. King St.;ca. 1853;

One of the earliest homes built onKing Street. This Greek Revivalhas a pedimented gable with win-dow; double entry door flankedby pilasters and topped by a tran-som. There are 3 doors located onthe bottom floor. One of threeused for entry.


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Queen Anne influence featuringan Eastlake inspired porch; fishscale shingles, gingerbread trimand polygonal bay.

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1414 338 N. Galloway St.;ca. 1890;

Extremely interesting cottagetype structure featuring an East-lake porch with pediment entry;round headed window with artglass under entry porch.

15 330 North GallowaySt.; ca. 1885;

Victorian style home was builtfor the family of Lyman & MariaGarfield who came from Boston.Lyman was the superintendent ofMiami Powder Mill. The homefeatures full Victorian styleporch; interior woodwork is ofoak, cherry and walnut.


Italianate structure; full frontporch with transom entry doorand original carved woodendoor; dentils and brackets at cor-nice; polygonal bay on southside; arched stone hoodmolds.


Victorian style featuring a brack-eted cornice; stone lintels; and aTuscan columned full frontporch.

18 142 W. Church St.;ca. 1880;

Italianate featuring swan’s neckentry; fluted columns at entryand an east side porch; frontgable in central bay over porch;stone lintels.

19 555 N. West St.;ca. 1865;

Eclectic; features a diagonalentry over a newly restored East-lake porch; central chimney;limestone lintels over windows.

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3355 3355

East Second Street Historic District


1 183 East Second St.;ca 1880;

Eastlake Style, once owned byJohn Hivling, a Xenia Merchantwho built the first bank in Xenia.The main entrance to the home isoff to the right side. The homehas tall 4/4 double hung sash firstfloor widows; door and all win-dows have Eastlake detailedlintels and surrounds; roundwooden cut-out rose vent ingable. The house has a right rearaddition and gable roof withextended eaves.

2 204 East Second St.;ca 1880;

Victorian Italianate design. Fea-tures a side entrance of Eastlakestyle. Carved stone lintel overwindows. Shows interestingornamentations on façade andentrance.

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HistoryThe East Second Street Historic District was listed on the National Registerof Historic Places in 1979. According to the nomination submitted to theInterior Department, the East Second St. Historic District between SouthCollier and South Monroe is architecturally significant as a collection ofmid-to-late 19th century residential buildings, well preserved and represen-tative of the stylistic and workmanship quality of that time. Unfortunately,over the years, the District has suffered from lack of maintenance or inap-propriate modification of the architectural features of the homes.

Start tour at 183 East Second Street. Parking is available at the XeniaMunicipal Parking west of Collier St.

3 209 East Second St.; ca. 1881;Eastlake Style built for granddaughter of John Hivling andher husband John Allen, banker and Ohio legislative repre-sentative. This is one of the finest examples of Eastlakedesign in the state. Constructed of brick, it has a front porchwith turned spindles and curved brackets. Two story sideporch adorn the western side of the house. Three chimneyslocated L & R of center, corbelled paneled with pots. Thewindows are 1/1 double hung sash with head surrounds labelwith slip sill. The main entrance is off the centre right side.


55 272 East Second St.;ca. 1885;

Queen Anne; 2 ½ story originalstone and siding. Original ownerwas Mr. King who owned thegun powder mills north of Xenia(Goes Station) and later at KingsMill which is the present site ofKings Island. This home is Irreg-ular Queen Anne with centralgable and projecting side gable..The recessed 3-panel woodendoor has transom and large lightwith a row of small lights aboveand below it. The second floorscreened porch consists of 2large screened windows separat-ed by narrow wooden decoratedpost.

44 235 East Second St.; ca. 1840;Greek Revival; This house is also known as Eden Hall, and has recentlybeen converted into a Bed & Breakfast. The home was constructed byAbram Hivling, son of John Hivling, at a cost of $8,000. After AbramHivling died, the house was sold to his niece and her husband Mr. andMrs. John Allen who bought if for their daughter Mary, who was Mrs.Coates Kinney. Colonel Kinney was a noted poet, lawyer and newspaperman who wrote the “Ode to Ohio” in 1888. Its most recent owner wasMrs. Paul (Evelyn) Cozatt who amassed valuable antique collections.After she passed away, the auction on the antique collection lasted for sev-eral days. Architecturally, there is a central doorway with three part tran-som and sidelights. Wooden porch on front and left side with hexagonalpillars and paneled entablature. There are thirty-two rooms on the livinglevels and ten rooms in the basement. On July 14, 2009, Robert andAmanda Nethercott acquired this stately mansion for their private resi-dence.

GEast SecondStreet Historic District


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