February 2025.
Sidney’s High Victorian Gothic Monumental Building is described as “Ohio’s most important Civil War building,” built after the war in honor of Shelby County’s veterans who were killed in action. This lovely building is chock-full of Gothic detail and is perhaps my second favorite building in Sidney, right behind the People’s Federal Savings & Loan Association Bank.
The Monumental Building is located at 110 West Court Street in downtown Sidney, Ohio. It is on the southwest corner of Courthouse Square, bordered by Italianate commercial buildings to the north, Court Street and The Spot restaurant to the south, Ohio Avenue and the Shelby County Courthouse to the east, and a small insurance agency to the west.
History
The Monumental Building prior to 1900. Note the bell tower at the rear of the building, now removed. (OhioPix)
After the Civil War ended in 1865, veterans and their friends started to raise money for a memorial. They first planned to construct a marble column or obelisk, and a lottery was started to appropriate more funds. Tickets were sold at $1 each, but only 38,000 of the 60,000 were purchased. Even with the grand prize of Carey’s Hall, a large commercial building just down the street, the net profit was only around $9,000.
After some time, a letter to the Sidney Journal in 1870 suggested a building instead of a conventional memorial. An excerpt reads: “The only question then, it seems to me, should be, what kind of structure will best answer the purpose. While we desire to commemorate the dead and honor the living soldier, ought we not to consult common prudence as to the best method of effecting this object? The useful as well as the ornamental ought to be studied. A building would meet this condition better than a marble shaft.” [sic]
Sidney citizens decided to purchase a lot which was previously occupied by the Ackerly Tavern and Farmer’s Hotel. The Monumental Building’s construction was funded by two bonds, approved by voters in 1875, which covered the costs of $58,000. The High Victorian Gothic building was designed by Samuel W. Lane, a Cleveland architect. Its cornerstone was laid in June 1875 (reading “Done in the memory of the fallen heroes of Shelby County, the state of Ohio and the town of Sidney, June 24th, in the year of our Lord 1875”), and its construction was finished in 1877. There seemed to be many production delays, not unlike today’s construction. During the winter of 1876, the masons ran out of stone, and they carved their names on a rock in Sidney’s Tawawa Park, which is still visible today.
The Monumental Building’s marble tablets with the names of Civil War veterans. (Shelby County Historical Society)
The Monumental Building originally housed the town’s offices, municipal court, fire department, police department, and post office. Sidney’s Lyceum and Library Association used the second floor, and the third was an opera house that could seat hundreds of people. Also part of the design were three marble plaques which recorded the names of Civil War veterans who died in battle. This was made possible by an act passed by the Ohio Legislature in 1871, which authorized the inclusion of such tablets in Civil War memorials. The 309 names were found through grassroots efforts by the community.
Detail of Sgt. Baker. (Shelby County Historical Society)
Although the building was finished in 1877, it did not receive its finishing touch until 1900--“Sergeant Baker,” the bronze statue that stands within the central gable’s niche. The statue was cast by the J. W. Fiske Company. The surviving Civil War veterans campaigned for this change since the Monumental Building opened, and the resolution that led to Sergeant Baker’s addition was passed in 1897. They asked to “[place] in the front a statue of a soldier, as originally intended,” to “perpetuate memories of valor and sacrifice” and “inculcate lessons of patriotism in the present and coming generations.” Apparently, the company cast another statue, which stands in Mansfield’s Central Park.
The third floor’s stage, prior to the building’s renovation. (Shelby County Historical Society)
The third floor vaudeville stage was very important to Sidney’s culture at the time. Even Buffalo Bill Cody performed at one time. However, its use as a theater was abandoned in the late 1890s due to building code problems. It was used by the Odd Fellows from that point onward.
At the same time, the Grand Army of the Republic (whose membership consisted of the very veterans that campaigned for the Monumental Building’s construction) were being threatened with eviction. Sidney’s library occupied about half of the second floor, but the building’s trustees wanted to expand the library into the other half, which was occupied by the GAR. This legal battle made it all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the trustees. The veterans unfortunately left the building in 1902.
By the mid-20th century, the Monumental Building’s original occupants were beginning to move to their own purpose-built buildings. Sidney’s city offices left in 1941 for their new Art Deco building a block east. The fire department, which had occupied the first floor since the building opened, also departed. The library moved to its own building in 1959. A few tenants like the Shelby County Civil Defense and a teen center moved into the vacated spaces, but they too were gone by the 1970s.
The restored third floor, which is used by the Sidney Municipal Court. (Freytag & Associates)
The Monumental Building has been restored to its original glory in recent years. In 1993, $300,000 of major repairs to the facade and roof were completed. The Veterans’ Service Office renovated and returned to the first floor. The marble tablets that honored the Civil War veterans were moved to the first floor in 1997, and after discovering 15 soldiers were omitted, a new tablet was carved and dedicated on Memorial Day of that year. The second and third floors were restored in 2011 by Freytag & Associates and are now being used by the Sidney Municipal Court. At an unknown date, but prior to 2007, the bell tower on top of the roof was removed due to structural and water problems.
The Monumental Building is significant because of its trailblazing status as a “Civil War memorial building.” According to the historical society’s website, Sidney was the first city in Ohio to both come up with the idea in the first place and to construct such a building. Additionally, only 14 were ever built in the state of Ohio, and two have since been demolished. (I’ve also covered Newark’s demolished Auditorium and Circleville’s Memorial Hall.)
Photos
The sunny weather on the day I visited highlighted the Monumental Building’s best qualities. I’m really happy with how these photos came out. Here is the building in its entirety:
It’s longer than it is high, but its bulk and stature make it the second biggest structure within Courthouse Square after the county courthouse. A fitting distinction for such an important memorial. Note how the east facade is twice the height of its Italianate neighbor:
I had a shot of the east facade by itself, but it is both poorly framed and badly overexposed (the sun was a killer), so this one with its context will do. Note the vertically tripartite division of the facade--the two corner bays project outwards slightly, but their pinnacles do not rise as high as the central gable. Additionally, the fenestration of these bays serves as a foil to the central portion, as the windows have similar shapes but are smaller.
The second floor has some pretty cool stonework. Foliate capitals and hood molds:
Lion grotesques:
The third and fourth floors:
Note the sort of rose window in the middle of the fourth floor. I love all the little details like string courses, drip molds, and carvings. It creates a lovely sense of depth within the facade.
I had to crop this one a bit because it was framed poorly, but I like the red pointed arches along the cornice and the polychrome roof. Also note the elaborate decoration of the gable.
Sergeant Baker still looks eastward from the central niche. He seems to have received a new coat of paint to appear more lifelike.
Moving around to the south side, I stood in the drive-in part of The Spot to get this shot:
Note the more eclectic organization of the building here. The central pinnacle divides the south facade into two, the eastern portion being more regular and the western looser.
I believe the western portion was the fire station, owing to its three garage doors on the first floor and that the bell tower was located there.
It’s interesting how these ornamental stone gables break the cornice below the roofline. I like the various different shapes of windows, too.
The articulation of the “pinnacle” is beautiful.
One of my favorite parts is this little colonnade with its cast-iron columns:
Detail:
The central entrance’s columns are a similar Gothic-style Corinthian, but the plants used as volutes are different.
The building is pretty spartan around the back.
Blogger doesn’t really do these photos justice, the brick is a much more vibrant red in full resolution. Oh well. Anyways, the Monumental Building looks like it has a bright future ahead.
Sources:
https://ohio.org/things-to-do/destinations/monumental-building
https://www.shelbycountyhistory.org/schs/downtown/monbuilding.htm
https://www.shelbycountyhistory.org/schs/civilwar/buildingmonbdg.htm
https://www.shelbycountyhistory.org/schs/archives/civilwararchives/monbdgpupdcwara.htm
https://www.shelbycountyhistory.org/schs/archives/civilwararchives/sgtbakrcwara.htm
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