Pythian Castle (Toledo, Ohio) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Pythian Castle
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Front and eastern side
Location in Ohio Show map of Ohio Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	801 Jefferson Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43604
Area	less than one acre
Built	1890
Architect	Bacon & Huber
Architectural style	Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	72001032
Added to NRHP	February 23, 1972

The Pythian Castle in Toledo, Ohio, is an old building built in 1890. It has a special style called Romanesque. You can find it in downtown Toledo. It was added to a list of important old places, the National Register of Historic Places, in 1972.

History of Pythian Castle

Building a Meeting Place

The building is very big, about 30,000 square feet! It was built in 1890 by a group called the Knights of Pythias. This group was like a club or a fraternity where members met.

Two architects, Norval Bacon and Thomas Huber, designed it. The tallest part of the castle is a tower called a turret. It reaches 122 feet (37 meters) high!

In 1908, people said it was the best building anywhere used only by the Pythian group. The building also had shops on the ground floor. One early shop sold pianos and organs.

Changes Over Time

In 1951, the Knights of Pythias sold the building. They sold it to a bus company called Greyhound Lines.

In the 1970s, a man named Ed Emery owned the castle. He opened a youth center there. He also rented space to a music store, an art studio, and an antiques shop. In 1972, he helped get the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A fire in 1978 damaged the building. After the fire, no one used it, and it started to fall apart. In 2006, the mayor of Toledo even put it on a list of the city's worst-kept buildings.

Efforts to Save the Castle

For many years, different owners tried to fix the castle. They spent money to try and make it stable again. They even put on a temporary roof.

In 2013, a group called Toledo's Pythian Castle LLC owned it. A local newspaper, the Toledo Blade, wrote about the building. They showed pictures of how run-down the inside had become.

Later in 2013, a group called the Lucas County Land Bank bought the building. They wanted to fix it up.

In 2016, the Land Bank sold the castle to a developer named David Ball. He bought it for a very small amount of money. The Land Bank also gave him a loan to help pay for a new roof and to fix the tall turret. The loan would be forgiven if he made the building safe to use within three years.

In February 2017, David Ball's company started working on the renovations.

Gallery

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  From "Year book : photo flashes showing Toledo's phenomenal progress, thriving industries and wonderful resources" in 1905

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  From "Art work of Toledo, Ohio" in 1895

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  From "Toledo, Ohio: photographic views of the city's commercial and picturesque features" in 1893

See also

In Spanish: Pythian Castle (Toledo) para niños