John Sherman Birthplace

The John Sherman Birthplace is a historic house museum at 137 East Main Street in Lancaster, Ohio. Also known as the Sherman House Museum, it is notable as the childhood home of politician and statesman John Sherman (1823-1900) and his older brother, the Union Army general William T. Sherman (1820-1891). The museum is primarily devoted to the general. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964, primarily for its association with John Sherman, namesake of the Sherman Antitrust Act.[2][3] The museum is operated by the Fairfield Heritage Association, which offers tours seasonally.[4]

John Sherman Birthplace
Front of the house
Location137 E. Main St., Lancaster, Ohio
Coordinates39.71394°N 82.6005°W / 39.71394; -82.6005
Arealess than one acre
Built1811 (1811)
ArchitectItalianate
NRHP reference No.66000609
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHLJanuary 29, 1964[2]

Description and history

The Sherman House is located on the north side of East Main Street in downtown Lancaster, between Broad and High Streets. It is a two-story brick building with a low-pitch hip roof and Italianate styling, with an older two-story wood-frame ell at the rear. The main facade is three bays wide, with a single-story porch extending across the front. The porch has bracketed and paneled posts, a dentil cornice, and a low balustrade. The main entrance is in the rightmost bay, with flanking pilasters rising to a corniced entablature set above a half-round transom. Windows are set in segmented-arch openings, with corniced surrounds.[3]

The rear frame section of the house was built in 1811, and enlarged by 1816 by Judge Charles Sherman. It was in this house that his two most famous sons, John and William, were born. William achieved great fame and notoriety as a general during the American Civil War, and it is Victorian-era furnishings that now dominate the interior. John Sherman made important contributions to the nation, serving as Treasury Secretary under President Rutherford B. Hayes and as Secretary of State under William McKinley. As United States Senator, Sherman saw through the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act, the nation's principal legal weapon against monopolistic business practices.[3]

The brick main section of the house was built in 1870, after the period of Sherman ownership. The house has been operated as a museum honoring the family since 1951.[4]


See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "Sherman Birthplace". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
  3. Joseph S. Mendinghall, Cecil McKithan and William Birdsell (January 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination:" (pdf). National Park Service. Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying three photos, exterior, from 1975 (32 KB)
  4. "Homepage". Fairfield Heritage Association. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
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