Neighborhood History
History from the Earliest Years
The history of the Frost Village neighborhood and Tiffin dates back to 1812. The familiar bronze statue of “The Indian Maiden” standing on Frost Parkway, near Miami Street, marks the site of Fort Ball, which was a military depot of the War of 1812. Fighting an engagement of that war, Eratus Bowe first sighted the location upon which Tiffin now stands. In 1817 he returned to the site and built his Pan Yan Tavern, which later became a stagecoach stop on the north bank of the Sandusky River. Early homesteaders followed soon after Bowe, and the settlement of Oakley sprang up around the Pan Yan. The main road in the area followed the path of the stagecoaches through Oakley, called Fort Ball.
In 1820 Josiah Hedges purchased a piece of land on the south bank of the river opposite Oakley, and founded another settlement. He named this village “Tiffin” in honor of Edward Tiffin, first governor of Ohio and later a member of the United States Senate, and a man who had fought long and brilliantly to finally win statehood for the Ohio territory in 1803. Tiffin was incorporated by an act of the Ohio Legislature on March 7, 1835.
These two communities, split by the Sandusky River, were great rivals. But, in 1850, seeing that their interests lay together, the two villages merged to form greater Tiffin, with Fort Ball becoming a part of Tiffin in March of that year.
In 1824, with the establishment of Seneca County by the Ohio Legislature, Tiffin became a county seat. The county took its name from the Seneca Indians, who originally were native to this territory.
The information below was collected from the Ohio Historic Inventory and federal applications for the Fort Ball Railroad District.
The Fort Ball — Railroad Area District
The Fort Ball district lies on the west bank of the Sandusky River, which flows through Tiffin and divides the residential west end from the commercial downtown of the city. The river was widened in 1915 and many houses that used to face Frost Parkway (then Water Street) between the street and River were moved. The district consists of approximately 48 acres and 160 buildings developed between 1830 and 1915.
The District is significant as the first settlement in the county, for its progression of 19th and early 20th century architectural styles in Tiffin, representation of the manufacturing and mercantile interests, and the social and religious history in the city during this period. In addition, the railroad complex immediately adjacent to the residential area and included in the district exemplifies the importance of the railroad in the economy of Tiffin in the 19th and Early 20th Century.
Indian Maiden
The bronze figure life-sized figure marks the site of Fort Ball, a military depot during the War of 1812. This Indian Maiden Monument is of rare beauty and dignity. The sculptors were Leonad Crunelle, and Lorado Taft, of Chicago, Illinois. When the flood walls of the Sandusky River were built after the ruinous flood of 1913; a cleared space was platted along the then named street of Water Street. Mr. Meshech Frost, gave the Indian Maid monument, in June 1926. It was thus that the area was renamed Frost Parkway. The Garden Club of the Tiffin Women’s Club planted and beautified the parkway with flowering shrubs and trees. On the pedestal of granite for the Indian Maid, is a large bronze plate, with the legend and in bas-relief an Indian offering a drink from the spring to a pioneer traveler.
“This Indian Maid keeps ceaseless watch where red men and sturdy pioneer drank from a spring whose sparkling waters flowed within the stockade of Old Fort Ball.”
24 Adams St.
(Now an Airbnb property of the Frost Village Inn call the “Italianate Cottage”)
The house is a two-story Italianate-style single-family residence built in 1856. By 1961, it had evolved into two apartments, and then by 1975 had been divided into four apartments. The building is on a corner lot at Adams Street and North Monroe Street, which was Lafayette Street during the period of significance (1856). The house is within a National Register of Historic Places District listed as Fort Ball – Railroad Area Historic District. The extensive renovation of the property provided for a second-story, two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with three-bed and-breakfast executive suites on the ground floor. The design was intentionally meant to be complimentary to the historic fabric of the building’s historic character. The porch was recreated to return a historic feel and frame to the building.
25 Adams St.
(Now an Airbnb property of the Frost Village Inn call the “Boutique Queen Anne”)
Once known as the King-Door House, this ornate home was built in 1895 by John King as his residence. King was a master builder who built Heidelberg’s College Hall. In 1946, R.A Eschbach and his wife lived there and ran a convalescence home after converting some of the second-floor rooms into suites with bathrooms. In 1961, the house was listed as Adams Nursing Home. In the 1980s, Lenore Livingston and her husband remodeled the home into a bed and breakfast. Livingston was a board member of the Tiffin Historic Trust and the renovation won the organization’s Restoration Award. The property is significant as an intact example, possessing the characteristics which define the historic district. Notable elements of the Queen Anne style include cross-gabled roofs, decorative shingles in the gables, decorative brickwork in chimneys, slate roofs with finial ornaments at the peak, bay windows, multi-paned leaded windows, three-story round tower with a conical roof. The building was recently renovated, including some new tile, fixtures, and cabinetry compatible with the historic character.
8 Adams St.
Built in 1882 is the Blair House. James A. Blair was a successful banker and businessman. Once the cashier at the Commercial National Bank, he went on to make millions as a speculator on Wall Street. He was a benefactor of Heidelberg College; one of the many who prevented its being relocated in 1871. When Mr. Blair’s private railroad car brought him to Tiffin, he parked it on the side track. Henry Fiege bought this house next. He was in the furniture and undertaking business, and the house remained in this family until his granddaughter. Ruth Scranton, moved out in 1958. The home is built in the Second Empire style of architecture, beginning with the roof and looking at all the features right down to the front porch.
149 Frost Parkway
The house at 149 Frost Parkway was a single-family residence when erected, but during the period of significance there was an addition made to the original. The 2.5-story Queen Anne-style two-family residential property has remained two apartments with separate access at the front of the property and a shared egress to the rear. Notable elements of the Queen Anne style include a cross-gabled roof and decorative shingles in the gables.
The building received comprehensive interior and exterior rehabilitation using the existing historic materials and adding modern amenities, fixtures, cabinets and tile compatible with the historic fabric of the building.
105-107 Frost Parkway
Also known as Tunison Flats, the building at 105 Frost Parkway was built by Oscar B. Tunison, a well-known Tiffin photographer. For many years it was one of the city’s high-class apartment houses. The property is significant as an intact example, possessing the characteristics which define the historic district, according to historic district records. Initially a duplex, the structure evolved into four one-bedroom apartments in the 1940s based on the construction materials used to separate the units. Other minor cosmetic alterations have been done, but none have affected the historical fabric after the 1940s. It has an Italianate style, which is referenced in the National Register nomination as a typical defining feature of the district. These types of homes are on every street in the district and make up a third of the entire district.
155 Frost Parkway
The building at 155 Frost Parkway was built to house the Church of Christ Scientist and did so until 1913. It was then sold to the Tiffin Woman’s Club. The Woman’s Club kept the building for approximately eighty years, until it was purchased by Dawn Iannantuono in 2000. Mrs. Iannantuono relocated her business, Draperies by Dawn, to the building after extensive renovations. The building is once again undergoing renovations and will soon open as the Deli-Cafe at Frost Village as a New York-style deli featuring metro-quality products.