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Photograph of John Mercer Langston House
Photograph by Ray Malinowski, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Langston, John Mercer, House

A National Historic Landmark. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“The John Mercer Langston House is a historic house at 207 East College Avenue in Oberlin, Ohio. Built in 1855, it was home to John Mercer Langston (1829-1897), attorney, abolitionist, diplomat, US Congressman and college president, who was one of the first African Americans elected to public office in the United States.”

Wikipedia article John Mercer Langston House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 113 National Register listings in Lorain County · listed in 1975 · category: Building · one of 2 National Historic Landmarks in Lorain County.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • National Historic Landmark. The highest federal designation, held by about 2,600 places in the country against roughly 100,000 Register listings.
  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 207 E. College St., Oberlin, 44074
  • When was it listed? 1975-05-15
  • Category. building
  • Township. Oberlin city
  • National Register reference number. 75001464 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

17,501 words

The chapter on Oberlin City in Oberlin: the Colony and the College, 1833-1883, published 1883 names Oberlin. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

One of the young men especially, who left his studies at Oberlin to help Mr. Shiphcrd and his family on their journey, Albertus Green, from Lan- N.Y., proved himself a most enterprising and efficient business manager ; and the little community again and again assessed upon themselves the cost of some new extension or addition to the advantages of the college, thus proved their vitality, and secured the confidence of the people of the State. For many years they drew their teachers almost wholly from Oberlin, but at length they could call men from -crn colleges, and have now reached the stage where they find satisfactory professors among their own alumni.

Passage source: Oberlin: the Colony and the College, 1833-1883, published 1883.

A few families went out from Oberlin to Southa, in 1848, with the purpose of establishing a Christian settlement and Christian institutions in advance of the tide of emigration which turning in that direction. They first settled upon the Missouri bottom, a few miles north of the State line. Th< y had no minister, and only at rare intertching of any kind ; but they maintained re- 1 ings and a Sabbath-school, organized a ' the co-operation of

Passage source: Oberlin: the Colony and the College, 1833-1883, published 1883.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Oberlin City - 17,501 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 1,785 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,785 specimens collected within 10 miles of Langston, John Mercer, House between 1852 and 1975: 914 Animalia, 611 Fungi, 224 Plantae, 15 Protozoa, 13 Chromista, 8 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. E. Recksecker, A. E. Ricksecker, A. M. Evans and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Cantharellus minor PeckCantharellus minor Peck1896F.D. KelseyNear Oberlin
Specimen of Polyporus arcularius (Batsch) Fr.Polyporus arcularius (Batsch) Fr.1896Kelsey, Francis DuncanKipton
Specimen of Dryopteris spinulosa (O.F.Müll.) WattDryopteris spinulosa (O.F.Müll.) Watt1899Ricksecker, A.E.Wood 4 miles south of Oberlin.
A photograph of the species Fagus grandifolia, not of this specimenFagus grandifolia Ehrh.1852Drège
A photograph of the species Ammocrypta pellucida, not of this specimenAmmocrypta pellucida (Putnam, 1863)1853Baird, Spencer FullertonBlack River, below falls at Elyria, Ohio
A photograph of the species Etheostoma blennioides, not of this specimenEtheostoma blennioides Rafinesque, 18191853S. BairdBlack River Elgria Ohio (above falls)
A photograph of the species Etheostoma caeruleum, not of this specimenEtheostoma caeruleum Storer, 18451853S. BairdElyria, Ohio
A photograph of the species Etheostoma maculatum, not of this specimenEtheostoma maculatum Kirtland, 18401853S. BairdElyria, Ohio
A photograph of the species Accipiter cooperii, not of this specimenAccipiter cooperii (Bonaparte, 1828)1894Dawson, W. L. (William Leon)Oberlin, Lorain, Ohio, USA
Albugo candida (Pers. ex J.F.Gmel.) Roussel1894F.D. KelseyOberlin
Biscogniauxia atropunctata (Schwein.) Pouzar1894F. D. KelseyOberlin.
Botrychium virginianum subsp. virginianum1894Dick, W.M.Oberlin.

All 1,785 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Storms near this property

28 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oberlin, the town this property stands in, in 28 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 17 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 4 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2023Flash FloodOberlin$200,000Flash flooding reported in Oberlin and Pittsfield Township due to heavy rainfall. Several reports of flooded basements. OH-303 closed between Pitts Road and Quarry Road due to flash flooding. Radar estimated 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rainfall in a three hour period.
September 2016Thunderstorm WindOberlin$50,000Thunderstorm winds downed trees and large limbs in Oberlin. Scattered power outages were reported as well.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindOberlin$35,000A 61 mph thunderstorm wind gust was measured in Oberlin. Over a dozen trees were downed.
August 2003Thunderstorm WindOberlin$25,000Thunderstorm winds downed many trees in Oberlin.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindOberlin$25,000Thunderstorm winds downed many trees and large limbs across the county. The Oberlin, Kipton and Elyria areas were especially hard hit. A barn was blown down in Eaton Township. A car was crushed by a tree in Elyria. A peak wind gust of 54 mph was measured at the Lorain County Airport near Elyria.
June 2005HailOberlin$20,000Hail quarter to half dollar size was observed. A few vehicles sustained minor damage.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindOberlin$15,000Thunderstorm down burst winds downed several trees and large limbs in the Oberlin area.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindOberlin$15,000Thunderstorm winds were estimated to be at least 70 mph. A few trees and limbs were downed.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindOberlin$15,000Thunderstorm winds downed several trees.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindOberlin$15,000Thunderstorm winds downed several large trees and limbs.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindOberlin$15,000Large trees downed.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindOberlin$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed a tree and several large limbs along Indian Hollow Road.
April 2011HailOberlin$5,000Thunderstorms produced a swath of hail from Oberlin to Amhurst to Elyria. Hail ranged from penny size up to quarter size during this event.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindOberlin$5,000Several trees were reported down.
June 2005HailOberlin$5,000Nickel size hail was observed. Several other reports from the county also contained observations of penny size hail.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindOberlin$5,000Trees were downed.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindOberlin$3,000Several large limbs were reported down.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindOberlin$2,000Thunderstorms winds downed several large tree limbs.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindOberlin$2,000Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree west of Oberlin.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindOberlin$1,000A few large limbs were reported down.
May 2024Flash FloodOberlin-Six to eight inches of flowing water was reported across US-20 near the OH-511 interchange east of Oberlin. Radar estimated around 2 inches of rainfall in one hour at this location.
May 2011Flash FloodOberlin-Strong thunderstorms with rain, wind, and hail moved over portions of Lorain County. Rainfall rates approaching two inches per hour were reported with this storm. Flooding occurred in Oberlin with several roads impassable with water up to the hoods on cars.
April 2006HailOberlin-Penny size hail was observed.
April 2006HailOberlin-Penny size hail was observed.
April 2002Flash FloodOberlin-Heavy thunderstorm rains caused widespread street flooding in Oberlin. Water on some roads was over two feet in depth forcing several motorists to abandon their vehicles.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindOberlin-A 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust was measured.
June 1998HailOberlin-Large hail also fell at North Ridgeville (0.75"), Elyria (0.75") and Amherst (0.88").
August 1997HailOberlin-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lorain County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Burrell-King House0.2 miles1979
Westervelt Hall0.4 miles1974
Evans, Wilson Bruce, House0.4 miles1980
Congregational Church of Christ0.5 miles1974
Christ Episcopal Church0.5 miles1978
Jewett, Frank, House0.5 miles1979

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 75001464 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Lorain CountyAll 113 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.