FIRST 20 Plaques

Go Up On Historic Buildings

Twenty buildings in the newly minted National Register district received nifty exterior plaques over the summer of 2019, to mark their historic significance.

Uptown Westerville Inc., the backer of the plaque program, had the project in the pipeline even before the city was notified in April that the Uptown District was a lock for the National Register listing. Applications to get the plaques approved by the Uptown Review Board were filed in October 2018.

Strictly speaking, the plaques are not related to the new designation. But city Planning Manager Bassem Bitar said the 20 chosen buildings were known to be part of the National Register application. All are extremely well researched, easily among the most qualified and were “nobrainers” to be atop the list for the attractive plaques.

The plaque program is expected to grow over the coming years, to many more of the 57 “contributing” buildings in the National Register of Historic Places district.

The program was proposed by Bill Bishop, past chairman of the Uptown Review Board, in 2002. Bitar said Bishop saw attractive historic building designation plaques on a 2002 trip to Washington, D.C., and brought the idea back to town. The idea gained momentum during Westerville’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2008, at the urging of celebration organizer Vinny Herwig.

Uptown Westerville Inc. got involved after that, and obtained funding for the first 20 plaques—so that the building owners would not have to pay for them themselves. Bishop as well as Jane Horn, owner of the Weyant Block building that houses the Old Bag of Nails Pub, made major donations to the program.

Dennis Blair, a member of Uptown Westerville Inc.’s board who serves as its Design Chair, took over leadership of the program from Bishop and ushered it through the URB. The bronze markers are 11-by-16.5-inches. Each features a historic photo of the building, and text on its past use and historic significance.

The “nailheads” covering the fasteners that hold the markers to the buildings are in the shape of barrels—a nod to Westerville’s Prohibition past, Blair said. But there’s more. As is fitting in the Historic District, attention is paid to the very smallest detail.

“The barrel nailheads also have no tap on top, because alcohol wasn’t welcome here. And they have no spout, so you would be looking at the back of the barrel, signifying that’s behind us—and part of our history,” Blair said.

Find a site-by-site listing of the 20 buildings with new historical markers on the following pages, and take your own tour of the Uptown Westerville Historic District now on the National Register of Historic Places.