McCarthy-Blosser-Dillon Building - Logan, OH
N 39° 32.416 W 082° 24.540
17S E 378922 N 4377680
McCarthy-Blosser-Dillon Building was built in 1883 in Logan, Ohio in the Italianate style. It was listed on the NRHP in 1984.
Waymark Code: WM1BRBB
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 03/25/2025
Views: 0
Built in 1883, the McCarthy/Blosser/Dillon building is a 3 story, masonry load bearing
building of the Victorian Italianate style, which sets on a foundation of hand quarried
Ohio limestone. The exterior of the building features panels of inset brick between brick pilasters which house the second and third floors. These panels on the east face envelope
the windows which are further enhanced by hand quarried and hand carved stone lintels and sills. The main facade of the building on the second and third floors also consist of inset brick panels housing the windows which are between engaged stone pilasters. The windows are further delineated by headers of stone carved lintels with brackets. Protecting the structure is a plain stone boxed cornice with brackets which projects approximately 2 ft.over the south and east faces of the building.
The first floor facade on the east is face brick flush with the brick pilasters. Here were several doors and windows which appeared similar to the upper story windows. On the main facade, the stone pilasters were carried to grade level with full glazed store front and double door flush entry with a single light transom.
Presently the exterior of the second and third floors stand untouched except for the painted trim which further accentuates the inset panels. On the first floor, attempts have been made to modernize the main entrance and a new rear entrance by attaching a "man-made" cut stone veneer. The first floor on Market Street has been altered by numerous openings to accommodate changes in mechanical equipment. Also, original door and window openings have been bricked up as the interior functions changed.
The building suffered a fire in 1980 which virtually gutted the interior. The present owners have renovated the structure and restored the first floor storefront as closely as possible to its original appearance, (see copies of old newspapers attached).
Built in 1883-84, the building displays characteristics of Victorian Italianate commercial architecture which presents a lively, varied facade. This is particularly evident in the upper two stories which are delineated vertically by stone pilasters flanking recessed bays and horizontally by a plain entablature between the two floors. The building also features stone carved lintels and is topped by a full entablature with brackets supporting the cornice. During the 1860-1890 period, the structures built in Logan were of a commercial architectural style similar to the Blosser/Dillon building, but today it is only one of the two remaining in downtown Logan. This building stands alone as an example of the Victorian Italianate Style.
The building is located at the intersection of Main and Market Street in the center of town. It sits directly across from the Thomas Worthington Park and diagonally across from the Hocking County Courthouse. Although the continuity of the street is disrupted by the vacant lot to the west of the building, it is located on a corner lot and does still read well
from the south and east elevations which were always visible
Built by Milt Gafney, the building housed Harrington's Drug Store and later, at the turn-of-the-century, the Louis Bort Drug Store. Mr. Bort manufactured his own patent medicines in the back room of the building on the first floor. He travelled about Ohio and West Virginia to various county fairs, selling his wares from a tent. Some of the patents are still held by his descendents living in Logan. As were often the case in 19th century commercial blocks, the second floor of the building was used for law offices and the third floor was the home of the exclusive Cresent Club, the most elite social club in Logan of
the 1890 era-later home of the Red Men's Lodge. In 1928 Clarence Blosser opened Blossers Restaurant on the first floor, which was housed in the building until the fire.
Logan developed as a transportation center for coal and clay products processed in the Hocking Valley In the 1840s the community served as a port on the Hocking Canal, a branch
of the Ohio Canal which extended from Cleveland on the Lake Erie to Portsmouth on the Ohio River. Until the coming of the railroads in the 1870s the canal was the dominant factor
in the growth and economy of Logan. The great days of the railroad in Logan were around
the turn-of the century. It was during this time that many commercial buildings were constructed reflecting this growth, This building boom continued in the early twentieth
century with the construction of the Ambrose Hotel in 1906; the Elk's building in 1909; the post office in 1915; the present Courthouse and the Logan Theatre both in 1925. After a
fire in 1947 which destroyed a portion of the historic fabric along Main Street, the McCarthy/ Blosser/Dillon building stands as the best representation of the late nineteenth century commercial development of Logan.-
NRHP Nomination Form