Architect Frank Packard in Ohio: Butler, Greene, Montgomery, Preble and Warren Counties
PLEASE NOTE: The blog contains quite a few pictures so give it several minutes to download. They download haphazardly.
This blog showcases the known designs of Columbus architect Frank Lucius Packard in Butler, Greene, Montgomery, Preble and Warren Counties of Ohio. Packard’s career spanned the years 1889-1923 during which he achieved a national reputation.
The history of the 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.
A couple comments regarding this blog:
From 1892-1899, Packard was in a partnership with Joseph Warren Yost. Yost had two designs in this five-county area, and they are included here.
I managed to weave in a bit of personal family history. 😊
Thank you to the following individuals for their assistance in contributing to this blog: Kathryn Carnegis, Cedarville University Digital Commons; Don Clark, Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ Home Museum; Joey Hansted, Little Miami History Connection; Jacqueline Johnson, Miami University Archives; Nancy Madden, Cedarville Community Library; Erica Spilger, Greene County Public Library.
Butler County
Hamilton: Hamilton High School.Sixth and Dayton Streets. Built 1915. Razed.Middletown: First Presbyterian Church. 71 South Main Street. Built 1892 and dedicated January 1893. Designed by Yost & Packard. Joseph Warren Yost and Frank Packard were in business together from 1892-1899. The church may actually have been designed by Yost prior to the partnership. Photo credit: Y&P’s Portfolio of Architectural Realities. Razed.Middletown: Hotel Manchester. 1027 Manchester Avenue. Built 1922.Dayton Daily News 10/22/1922.Today.Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Vacant. Ugh.Oxford: Alumni Library at Miami University. 201 East Spring Street. Built 1910. A Carnegie library. The Columbus Dispatch 5/8/1910. Two Packard designs side-by-side: the libary and Bishop Hall next to it.Today this building houses the Department of Architecture and Interior Design.Oxford: Bishop Hall (women’s dormintory) at Miami University, above and below. 300 East Spring Street. Buillt 1912.Bishop Hall today.Oxford: chemistry classroom and laboratory building at Miami University. Built 1914. Photo credit: Resencio yearbook of 1915.Packard also designed a 1918 addition to this building. Razed.The Republican-News (Hamilton) 6/10/1915.Oxford: Normal College building. Built 1909. 201 East Spring Street. The general contractor of Normal College (housing the teacher education program) was Henry Karg of Westerville, Ohio. Prior to discovering this was a Karg project, I had published a blog on his Ohio career starting with several of his Otterbein University projects in Westerville. His son Rollin attended Otterbein as a freshman and was a member of the football team as pictured above. He then transferred to Miami…and likely, at his very young age, oversaw the construction of his father’s project. They later were in business together. Growth in the teacher education program led to Packard’s designing a second building of similar design built in 1915. The original structure became known as the South Pavilion when the new structure opened with the name North Pavilion (also pictured below).Two Packard designs: Bishop Hall and Normal College.In 1916, a Packard-designed Central Pavilion was constructed that connected the North and South Pavilions. The Normal College, or Teachers’ College, was later renamed McGuffey Hall, a name retained to this day.A bit of family history: McGuffey Hall included a grade/high school of about 400 students that was a teaching laboratory experience for students enrolled in Miami’s teacher education program. My mom and three of her siblings all graduated from William Holmes McGuffey High School. My mom’s sister Mary had this to say: “A wonderful school and where students in the College of Education came to observe the teaching and students. Every classroom had chairs around the back of the room so students from the College of Education would come and sit and observe. We, as students, paid no attention.” In 1954, the laboratory school was consolidated into the Oxford City School system.Here’s my mom, Roberta “Bertie” Kersting, pictured in the 1945 Miami yearbook. When she finished high school, she continued as a Miami student in that same building earning a degree in early childhood education.My mom’s two brothers, Dick (#79) and Edwin “Ted” Kersting (#71), were members of the William Holmes McGuffey High School football team. It was coached by Wilbur “Weeb” Eubank, pictured here next to Ted, who would later coach the Baltimore Colts and then the New York Jets.The Green Devils completed the 1936 season undefeated and unscored upon.Oxford: Wells Hall (women’s dormitory) at Miami University. 301 East Spring Street. Built 1922-23.Hamilton Evening Journal 12/13/1922 (left). The Hamilton Daily News 10/26/1923 (right).
The Hamilton Daily News 11/1/1923.
Commencement 1915. Wells Hall in the background.Today.Oxford: Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity at Miami University. High Street. Built 1914. Razed. Photo credit: Miami University archives.Oxford: Alumnae Hallat Western College for Women. Built 1891-92. Designed by Joseph Warren Yost, later partners with Frank Packard of the Columbus architectural firm Yost & Packard.The building on the left still stands, but Yost’s Alumnae Hall on the right has been razed.This is what remains. I should have packed a wisk broom.
Greene County
Cedarville: Cedarville High School. Built 1916-17. North Main Street. Photo credit: Razed.Photo credit: The Harold Strobridge Image Collection of Cedarville University.Razed.Wilberforce: Bundy Hall at Wilberforce University. Built 1917. Lost to the April 1974 tornado that struck the Xenia area. Photo credit: Ohio History Connection.April 1974 tornado. Photo credit: Columbus Metropolitan Library.Wilberforce: Kezia Emory Hall (women’s dormitory) at Wilberforce University. Built 1913. One of only two campus buildings that survived the tornado. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Photo credit: Ohio History Connection.Today.Wilberforce: Mitchell Hall at Wilberforce University. Built 1912. Lost to the tornado. Photo credit: Ohio History Connection.The Carnegie Library also survived the tornado and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (not a Packard design).Xenia: power plant, Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ Home. Photo credit. Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ Home Museum. Razed.Photo credit: Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ Home Museum.Xenia Daily Gazette 8/21/1908. Photo credit: Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ Home Museum.
The power house whistle announced the beginning of the day. Time to rise.
The power plant outlived its life, but the Orphans’ Home campus is repurposed and in use today.Museum honoring the past…and its well worth a vist.
Montgomery County
Dayton: National Theatre. South Main Street. Built 1904. Later became the RKO Strand. Destroyed by fire in 1943. Photo credit above and below: Facebook page History Of The Daytonians.
The Dayton Herald 4/4/1903.
The Dayton Herald 10/16/1905.Dayton: Forest Avenue Presbyterian Church. Built 1901-02. Vacant.The church is built of pink sandstone. Packard designed 3 more pink sandstone Presbyterian churches in Ohio: Barnesville, Shelby, and Upper Sandusky. They ae featured in a separate blog on my website. The sandstone for all of these was likely quarried in Mansfield.The Dayton Herald 10/11/1902.When in Dayton, this is a must-see. Amerca’s Packard Museum at 420 South Ludlow Street. Houses an outstanding collection of Packard automobiles and auto-related artifacts. Packard the architect was not related to the Packards of the automobile manufacturing industry, and he did not design the above building. The cherry-red automobile on the left was owned by singer Perry Como.Miamisburg: Carnegie Library. 400 Central Avenue. Built 1909. Packard designed 8 other Carnegie libraries in Ohio.These are featured in a separate on my website.While the building is vacant today, the Miamisburg Historical Society hopes to repurpose it as a Veterans’ museum and nominate it for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.Miamisburg: First Methodist Episcopal Church. 40 South Fifth Street. Built 1902.Occupied today by The Journey Community Church.
Miamisburg: Miamisburg High School. 533 East Linden Avenue. Built 1921. Razed.Dayton Daily News 4/15/1921.A local landmark: Miamisburg Mound State Memorial. 900 Mound Road. Great view of the area!!
Preble County
New Paris: Grade/high school. 115 North Spring Street. Built 1915. Designed by Packard. Based on the heavy equipment sitting in the parking lot, looked like it was awaiting demolition.Ben Hanby lived in New Paris after graduating from Otterbein University in Westerville. His residence above has obviously changed over the years. Among his other compositions was Who Is He In Yonder Stall (could be considered a Christmas hymn) and Darling Nellie Gray, an anti-slavery ballad very popular at the time of the Civil War. His father William was a founder of Otterbein. The Hanby property adjacent to the campus was a stop on the Underground Railroad. It’s now a state historic site. Ben guarded the property at night while attending Otterbein.Ceramic music boxes that play Up On The Housetop. Made (although no longer) by a local resident.
Warren County
Morrow: grade/high school. 101 Miranda Street. Built 1913. Today, Morrow is part of the Little Miami School District. The building has been repurposed and houses the Morrow Arts Center.Morrow High School Class of 1921. Photo credit: Little Miami History Connection.Today.
Frank Packard certainly made a mark on the campus of Miami University! I’m sure I have walked by several of those buildings while Mike was a student there. It’s amazing how much he accomplished in his lifetime. Beautiful architecture!
Histories and Mysteries 
Frank Packard certainly made a mark on the campus of Miami University! I’m sure I have walked by several of those buildings while Mike was a student there. It’s amazing how much he accomplished in his lifetime. Beautiful architecture!
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It’s a beatiful campus!!!
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Very interesting! I was surprised th
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