Architects Joseph Yost and Frank Packard in Ohio: Champaign, Clark, Logan, and Union Counties
This blog showcases the known designs of Columbus architects Joseph Warren Yost & Frank Lucius Packard in the region of Champaign, Clark, Logan, and Union Counties of Ohio. These two architects were in partnership during the years 1892-1899; each practiced separately before and after this period of time. The history of these structures has not been studied. The blog’s purpose is to generate local appreciation of these treasures, inspire research/promotion of them, and save/value those that remain. The Yost & Packard firm, nationally recognized, would likely be considered one of Ohio’s most significant.
I wish to thank the following individuals for their generous and thorough assistance in contributing pictures and documentation for the blog: Natalie Stone Fritz of the Clark County Historical Society, Sue Mattinson of the South Charleston Ohio Heritage Commission and author of Edward Edwards: The Man Who Built South Charleston, Ohio, Todd McCormick and Beth Marshall of the Logan County History Center, and Bob Parrott of the Union County Historical Society.
Published 6/30/2021 by Don Foster. donfoster73@gmail.com
Champaign County
Urbana: First Presbyterian Church, 116 West Court Street. Built 1894by Henry J. Karg of Westerville who built several other Yost & Packard designs.I wrote a blog on Karg’s significant career of statewide builds.The church today, above and below.Urbana High School. Destroyed by fire and rebuilt circa 1897. Not sure if the 1897 design by Yost & Packard is the same as the original.The old high school still stands. When this picture was taken in 2019, it appeared a later addition was being demolished and perhaps the original structure was being saved. A new high school stands behind it.I checked up on old Urbana High School in July 2021. The demo side has been restored to it original design. The new brick is visible in the middle of the picture.Nice job!!!Urbana: Central Ward School. Corner Court & Kenton. Yost & Packard designed an addition built circa 1897. Razed.Urbana: W.H. Marvin Manufacturing Company.Church Street at the PRR tracks. Built 1894. A rare factory design by Yost & Packard.Razed.W.H. Marvin was located just to the east of the CCC & StL depot. Both of these Y&P designs were built in the same year. The CCC & StL (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis) was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system.Urbana: 640 Miami Street. Designed by Yost & Packard. Built 1894. Today the former depot houses a coffee shop.Urbana: stable, rear 438 Scioto Street. Designed by Yost & Packard. Built 1895 for Frank Chance. Appears in the book Building Ohio.Urbana: Jesse Jonathan Hunter residence. 345 East Church Street. Built 1901. Designed by Packard. Appeared in the 7/7/1901 issue of The Columbus Dispatch as being built for J.B. Hunter which was likely a typo. There were no Urbana residents by that name. The porch and roof trim look like changes to the original design.The ad above is from the Champaign County Democrat of 8/15/1901. Based on owning a business and the “prominent young business man” mention from the Urbana Citizen and Gazette of 4/20/1901 below, Hunter likely had the means for a new home and one of Packard design. Newlywed wife Estella Blauvelt was from Delaware, Ohio, where Packard was raised. Her family home was one block from the Packard family home…so these two families must have known each other…and hence a connection to the architect.
Urbana: 524 Scioto Street. Built 1895 for Harvey C. Loudenbach. Above picture is from Yost & Packard’s promotional Portfolio of Architectural Realities. Also appears in the book Building Ohio.Urbana: 115/117 West Reynolds Street. Designed by Packard. Built circa 1905 for Dr. David and Lucinda O’Brine and likely as investment income. Apartments appear to have been a popular investment choice at that time. Yost & Packard designed a number of such buildings.Below is the O’Brine’s house at 222 West Church Street in Urbana. Perhaps it’s a Yost & Packard design and someone will have documentation to confirm that.Speculation as stated above.Urbana: 727 Miami St. (Rt 36) just west of downtown and near the Y&P-designed train depot. The burgers are great!!!
Clark County
South Charleston: 101 East Columbus Road. Built 1907. Designed by Packard. Razed.South Charleston: Woodward Street. Depot built 1912 for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Design by Packard.The Pennsylvania Railroad later became the Penn Central Railroad. The depot has been razed.South Charleston: 16-18 South Chillicothe Street. Remodel for the Bank of South Charleston in 1916 by Packard.
Springfield Daily News 3/17/1916.
South Charleston: 108 South Church Street. Built 1911 for Warren W. Corbitt. Corbitt owned several farms in the South Charleston area. Designed by Packard.Blueprints have been passed from one owner to the next.The Corbitt house was featured in the Society section of the 5/1/1960 Springfield News-Sun.
South Charleston: Lafayette B. Holdren residence. It appears this house was never built. Holdren was with the Pennsylvania Railroad and with Western Union Telegraph Company. In 1916, he was president of City Council. In 1919 he filed for divorce and moved to Washington Court House.
The Columbus Dispatch 3/27/1910
Interesting!!! The Columbus Dispatch 6/21/1905
SPECULATION AS TO THE ARCHITECT South Charleston: 25 East Mound Street. Built 1909 for Foster Houston, a major landowner, was well connected in Columbus. It appears the middle window has been modernized. This may possibly be a Packard design. Perhaps someone will have documentation to confirm that.The orphans’ home is located at 404 East McCreight Avenue inSpringfield. Built 1898. Designed byYost & Packard and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Today the building is a nursing facility. The above rendering is from the Y&P promotional publication Portrait of Architectural Realities.The orphans’ home was located at 100 West McCreight Avenue in Springfield. Built 1894. Designed by Yost & Packard. I was born right next door at Mercy Hospital. The home and the hospital are both gone. The above rendering is from the same Y&P publication mentioned previously.
Springfield Daily News 6/3/1923. This was one of Packard’s last designs as he passed away unexpectedly in October of 1923.
Springfield Light, Heat and Power Company (later Ohio Edison). 121 East High Street. Built 1909. Designed by Packard. Razed. The letters etched about the front entrance (blurred out in this picture) say Pythian Castle. So the selection of Packard as architect likely came from the selection of Yost & Packard as architects of the Ohio Pythian Orphans’ Home. One or more upper floors of the above building would have served as the lodge for the Pythians.Springfield: High Street Methodist Episcopal Church. 230 East High Street. Built 1904. Designed by Packard. Stunning interior!Both this Packard-designed Pennsylvania Railroad passenger depot, built in 1907, and the much larger Big Four passenger depot are no longer standing in downtown Springfield. Springfield: Memorial Hall. 300 West Main Street. Built 1916. Designed by Packard. I recall my elementary school class attending a concert here. Razed in recent years. Portions of the concrete columns were incorporated into a replacement bridge on North Fountain Avenue in the downtown.Springfield Daily News 5/31/1923. Packard made many trips to town to work out details for the construction of this building.Springfield: Robert S. Rodgers residence. 830 North Limestone Street. Built 1914. Designed by Packard. Rodgers was president of the Springfield Pure Milk Company. His grandson, nationally known comedian Jonathan Winters, lived in this house as a toddler. Today this structure is occupied by Littleton & Rue Funeral Home and Crematory.These two articles appeared in the society section of The Columbus Dispatch: 11/18/1917 above and 6/7/1921 below. I thought the friendship between the Packards and the Snyders would be of interest to Springfielders. David Snyder and his brother donated land for a beautiful public park in the city bearing their name. My family had fun times ice skating at Snyder Park Lagoon during childhood days many years ago. Always a bonfire going to warm the hands and feet.Before we move on to Logan County designs, above and below are two niche Ohio museums located in Springfield you might want to visit sometime. The Pennsylvania House above (and below), “the inn at the end of the road”, has a really extensive very interesting button collection that would appeal to anyone. Construction of U.S. Route 40 (aka the National Road or the Cumberland Trail) was halted at that spot for awhile. The Hartman Rock Garden below, open daylight hours every day, is an American folk art treasure. Make it a day and also visit these outstanding museums: the Heritage Center of Clark County and the Westcott House (a Frank Lloyd Wright prairie design).
Logan County
Bellefontaine: Mary Rutan Hospital. 600 North Madriver Street.Built 1917/18. Designed by Packard. The above picture, which may actually be a postcard, is on display at the Logan County History Center in Bellefontaine…an excellent museum!!Photo credit: Logan County History Center.A third story was added later. Today the hospital complex is much larger as shown below.Bellefontaine: First Presbyterian Church. 117 North Main Street. Complete rebuild inside and out designed by Packard in 1907. Stone exterior replaced by brick as shown below and as explained in the newspaper article below.
Bellefontaine: People’s National Bank. 100 South Main Street. Original exterior above and the redesign below…which has been maintained to this day. Article is from The Columbus Dispatch of 8/29/1909.Today.Huntsville: high school. 4601 County Road 222. Built 1912. Designed by Packard. Photos above and below are from The American School Board Journal.Razed.The above photo has nothing to do with the Huntsville building design. The Logan County History Center had a Facebook post about how students were transported to schools in the early days. I just liked the picture so I added it to the mix.West Liberty: West Columbus Street. Built 1900. Designed by Packard. In private ownership and vacant. The local historical society indicates this structure does not have zoning compatible with repurposing for community use. Hard to believe one would give up on this TREASURE.West Liberty: Not a Yost & Packard, but while there…a must stop. U.S. Rt. 68 at north edge of town. Homemade!!Zanesfield: high school. County Road 5. Built 1923. Designed by Packard. Razed.Huntsville: Lake Ridge Island, Indian Lake. It has yet to be discovered whether the Packards built a summer homehere. Above is from The Columbus Dispatch of 7/21/1921. Sounds like fishing was successful per the article below which appeared in The Columbus Dispatch of 6/1/1913.Looks like Packard took an active interest in this Logan County vacation spot. The Columbus Dispatch, 1/24/1915.
Union County
Marysville: LIggett Business Block. 120-122 East Fifth Street. Built 1897/98 for Newton E. Liggett of Marysville Telephone Company. The first floor contained a drug store (Liggett was also a druggist) and Citizens Home and Savings Company. There were two apartments on the second floor and the telephone company was on the third floor.Designed by Yost & Packard. The structure appears in the book Building Ohio. This picture and the contract shown below are from the Union County Historical Society archives.Marysville: Hotel Oakland. Main Street. Built 1895. Designed by Yost & Packard. Destroyed by fire in 1975.West School (grade and high school). Razed.
Marysville: Marysville Motor Car Company. 126-128 South Main Street. Built 1912 for Walter M. Otte. Unable to locate what it looked like originally, but here is a picture of its conversion to a 5&10 cent store. Design by Packard. Destroyed by fire in 1974. The article below is from the Union County Journal of 5/9/1912.
Not sure where this was located. Packard designed an additional building for the campus. A website that contained a 1922 annual national report had this to say: “Industrial schools for delinquents are all reformatory institutions for delinquents and receive inmates committed by juvenile or other courts.” Irwin: Irwin School. Junction State Routes 4 and 161. Construction date of the original structure is yet to be discovered…as is the architect who I suspect was Joseph Yost since he designed the school in nearby Plain City. The addition on the north side as shown below was designed by Packard. This was a fun discovery for me in The American Contractor of 7/3/1915. Since moving to Westerville starting in my freshman year at Otterbein University in 1969, I have passed by this striking favorite building several hundred times driving back and forth via 4 and 161 to visit family and friends in my hometown of Springfield. The building is in private ownership and has been empty for many years. It’s a popular post on various abandoned/old Ohio Facebookpages.The school in Milford Center was known as Union Township School. 153 East State Street. Built 1915. Designed by Packard. Razed.The school in Raymond is still in use today. Located right in town on State Route 347. Built 1914. Designed by Packard.Bright sun was behind the Raymond building so I had to get up close in shade to take the pictures above and below. Will return to get pictures from a distance.
Histories and Mysteries 
Thanks for the information and photos.
LikeLike