Many early settlers of Findlay, Ohio built homes along two east-west streets. Front Street was next to the river and Back Street was the next street south, away from the noise and smoke generated by local factories. Later, Back Street became Sandusky Street. Findlay benefited from the oil and gas boom of the late 1800’s. Most of the benefactors of this wealth built extravagant homes on South Main Street which intersects Sandusky in downtown Findlay.
This week I chaperoned my daughter’s field trip. For the past few weeks her class has been studying architecture. In preparation for this field trip, the students identified many types of physical structures. Each student used a pencil to draw examples of columns, arches and other building features.
We took a school bus to West Sandusky Street in the historical section of Findlay. Starting at the Hancock Historical Museum, we walked several blocks examining the architecture of houses and other buildings. We were led by local historian and author Linda Paul. Linda lives in one of the houses on our tour and has researched most of the homes in the historical district of Findlay.
As we walked past each house, the architectural features were pointed out and students took pictures with digital cameras. On a worksheet, students recorded the address of each home and categorized the type of architecture observed. We ended the first half of our tour at Corporate Research International headquarters on East Sandusky Street. This four story building was built in 1905 to function as a grocery distribution center. We went from the basement all the way to the roof. One of the main features of the building was a four-story slide that was used to “drop” groceries from each floor down to the first floor where horse-drawn wagons picked up supplies.
Here are the pictures from my group.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trustypics/sets/72157617807271870/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trustypics/sets/72157617807271870/map Geotagged Version
As you look through the pictures note the differences in the houses. This is in striking contrast to our neighborhood where two other families live in houses almost identical to ours.
When we finished the tour, Linda passed out a Walking Tour pamphlet she developed for the museum. Each historical home on Sandusky and Main Streets is listed with its architectural features, building and year of construction. This gave the students a chance to check their work and ask the historian questions about specific houses. It was a valuable learning experience for all.