Another One Bites the Dust
Pre-Civil War Brick Residence Razed
Early Tuesday morning, work crews arrived on site at 137 East South Street and began demolishing the historic brick residence on the lot at the corner of East South and South Arch streets, lot #77 of the original 1808 Barnesville village plat.
Brenda McCort, owner of the property, applied for a building permit to demolish the structure. The permit will be considered at the next village council meeting almost a week after the building was leveled.
Shortly after the town’s founding, the lot served as the location of the town’s first school. Nothing is known of what was on the lot prior to the construction of the current brick residential structure.
The building was recognized as a historic structure and included in a survey completed by employees of the Ohio Historic Preservation Office prior to the establishment of the Barnesville National Register Historic District in 1984.
That survey recognized the structure as a rare example of Greek Revival-style architecture in the community. The Greek Revival period of architecture was popular in the United States from 1825 to 1855.
Up through the turn of the current century, the building still exhibited its characteristic pediment frame front porch, a distinctive feature of Greek Revival architecture marked by tall columns featuring a triangular shape.
The pediment adds to the grandeur of the structure and serves as a focal point of the front of the home, emphasizing the architectural significance of the Greek influence, historical architectural source books reveal.
For much of the 20th century this was the well-maintained home of the Froehlich family. In 1926, the city directory identifies it as the home of the Edward Froehlich family.
In 1949, it was the home of Edward’s son, Edward J. and his wife, Lillian. The younger Froehlich was an employee of the Barnesville United Dairy Plant.
The 1985 city directory shows Lillian, a widow, living at the address.
Now, after another 40 years of use, the history of the 175 plus year brick residence unfortunately comes to an end.
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