May 2025.
This post covers the northern half of Main Street in Circleville, continuing from the last post that focused on the south. I’ll start again from the corner of Western Avenue and West Main Street/US-22.
150-154 West Main Street
These are a pretty orthodox grouping of Victorian buildings--two similar Italianates on the left and a more vernacular building with a bay window on the right. What drew me here was the elaborate mural painted on the side of 150, which employs trompe l'oeil to give the illusion that one is walking into the original circular plan of downtown Circleville.
Seitz Building/Parrett Building
Historic view of Circleville’s streets in 1938. The Seitz Building is at far left. (Ohio Memories on Facebook)
The Romanesque Revival Seitz Building was built in 1896 for the Mack Parrett Store. The Third National Bank opened inside in 1897 and operated until 1921, followed by a meat market. The building received its name from the Carl Seitz Pianos and Radios store, which opened in 1922 and closed in 1930. (The above photo has the store in operation, though, so I’m not sure when Seitz ultimately left.) Over the years, the building has lost its original storefront and dormers.
106-126 West Main Street
I condensed all these buildings into one shot, as they are all heavily altered but give a broader view of Circleville’s less remarkable urban fabric.
Crist Building III
Circleville has three buildings that bear the name “Crist” on their cornice. The oldest (now demolished) stood north of this building on Court Street, and the second is located a block west. This one was built in 1923. Its wide stature makes me wonder if it was built as a grocery store or department store.
E. F. Anderson Building
This unusually elaborate Beaux-Arts building has a great deal of classical ornamentation across its facade. It was built c. 1914, as indicated on the cornice. E. F. Anderson was undoubtedly the original tenant who commissioned this building, likely a proprietor of a ground-floor store.
130 East Main Street
A Queen Anne house covered in vinyl siding, it nonetheless retains its slate roof and woodwork, albeit painted white.
Noecker Building + Circle D Skating Rink [demolished]
The Noecker Building seems to date from c. 1920-1930, a later example of the Commercial style. It serves as a tire shop, but the building has an odd projection in the rear that looks like it was built in front of an old church:
Its neighbor, the Circle D skating rink, had a similarly odd composition. It was apparently built in 1816 as either the first or second brick home in Circleville, later being partially demolished and expanded in the 1940s. The rink had been open since 1954 when it burned in 2012. Though the owner hoped to rebuild, the site remains empty today.
Circleville Community Methodist Church/Methodist Episcopal Church
This 1910 Gothic Revival church replaced a c. 1850s church built by the same denomination. Methodists were the first religious sect within Circleville, dating back to Pickaway County’s founding in 1810. The church has been expanded and renovated multiple times, most recently between 2009 and 2012.
Part 3 of my Circleville trip resumes at Court Street, which runs perpendicular to Main Street as the other major artery within downtown.
Sources:
https://dimpletimes.com/2018/09/12/seitz-building-one-of-few-four-stories/
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/crime/2012/08/01/blaze-destroys-circleville-hangout/23400519007/
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