Morgan Mansion Explained

Morgan Mansion
Location:Broadway and Pennsylvania Aves., Wellston, Ohio
Coordinates:39.1236°N -82.5331°W
Built:1905
Architect:Wilbur Mills
Added:February 16, 1979
Area:Less than
Refnum:79001867

The Morgan Mansion is a historic residence in and the current city hall of Wellston, Ohio, United States. Built in 1905, it was the home of one of Jackson County's leading industrialists, T.J. Morgan, and it has been designated a historic site.[1]

Morgan entered the iron and coal business in Wellston in 1884, when he established the Wellston Coal and Iron Company. By 1905, he had become sufficiently wealthy to commission the design of his home from leading Columbus architect Wilbur Mills. Mills' design was a brick building with a stone foundation, an asphalt roof, and elements of stone and iron.[2] Rather than being of a single architectural style, the two-and-a-half-story house is a mix of Jacobethan and Spanish Mission Revival architecture. The various structural elements combine to make the Morgan Mansion more architecturally significant than any other building in the city. Morgan himself died just three years after the house was erected.[3]

Thirty years after Morgan arranged for its construction, the house was purchased by the city of Wellston and converted into its city hall, a purpose that it continues to serve to the present day. In 1979, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying both because of its historically significant architecture and its place as the home of a leading local citizen. It is one of three National Register-listed buildings in the city, along with the Clutts House, the home of another prominent mining executive, and the Harvey Wells House, the home of the city's founder.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999.
  2. , Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2011-06-21.
  3. Hull, Arthur M., and Sydney A. Hale, eds. Coal Men of America: A Biographical and Historical Review of the World's Greatest Industry. Chicago: The Retail Coalman, 1918, 468.
  4. http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/histpres/programs/prls/prls120808.html State Board Recommends 10 Ohio Nominations to the National Register Of Historic Places, One To State Registry Of Archaeological And Historic Landmarks