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Ohio City
In the rural mountain town of Ohio City, Colorado at the corner of Miners Avenue and Main Street you will discover the Ohio City Town Hall.
Ohio City was established on the original site of Eagle City previously settled by miners in the latter part of 1879. Ohio City is located in the beautiful Quartz Creek Valley of Gunnison County and incorporated on June 24, 1907. The Ohio City Town Hall was constructed in 1906, during the second period of three distinct mining periods of boom and bust. During the second period, the town supported approximately 250 people, a newspaper, theater, several civic organizations, baseball teams, a brass band and even an orchestra. [1. 1906 - ca. 1910 Mercantile Building (area of significance: commerce); 2. 1910 - ca. 1913 Restaurant (area of significance: commerce); 3. 1914 - ca. 1955 Town Hall (area of significance: government); 4. 1964 - ca. 1976 Community Center (area of significance: social history).]
The Ohio City Town Hall was originally constructed as the Baer Boss Mercantile. Thereafter the building was used for a short time as a restaurant owned by the Tarkington Family. In 1914 the Tarkingtons sold the restaurant to the Town of Ohio City for use as a town hall. In 1974 Gunnison County acquired the Town Hall when the Secretary of the State of Colorado determined Ohio City to be an abandoned town site pursuant to C.R.S. 139-19-101, et. seq. By virtue of Resolution 1996-25, Gunnison County designated the Ohio City Town Hall as a historic county landmark.
The Ohio City Town Hall represents a significant type of architectural style predominant around the turn of the century. The wood framed building is a Vernacular Victorian style characterized by the false front and store front glazing. The building is unique with its corner entrance. The exterior walls are sheathed with a combination of unpainted vertical wood board and batten siding on the north and south sides. The east and west sides are covered with a pressed metal shingle that appears to be terne metal and predominately has a pattern that mimics the appearance of stone. For areas around the entrance and the corners of the building a small metal tile with a medallion pattern is used as an accent with the stone pattern.
The interior is an open one room undivided space. Interior walls are covered with varnished wood bead board paneling from floor to ceiling.
The high ceiling is finished with an unpainted pressed metal tile with a decorative quatrefoil pattern. This pattern is commonly associated with the Gothic and renaissance Revival periods of architecture in the United States. The symbol is considered a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets (such as a four leaf clover symbolizing good luck). A decorative border with a covered cornice adds additional formality to the design.
The Ohio City Town Hall is not only historically significant but significant to the community as it represents simplicities of times past. Not only does the Ohio City Town Hall provide a community center for its residents, it also represents the perseverance of its ancestors who established this mining town and is a significant and beloved historical landmark of the community and a treasure to leave for children and children’s children.