Description: This photograph shows a blockhouse in South Park Mansfield, Ohio. Built during the War of 1812 by soldiers from Coshocton, Ohio, the blockhouse protected Anglo-American settlers from American Indian attack. Later, it served as the first courthouse, jail, school, and location of the first religious service in Richland County. Mansfield acquired the blockhouse in the early 1900s. The Historical marker was placed by the Mansfield Council of Garden Clubs in 1953, which reads "MANSFIELD BLOCK HOUSE (within this park) Built during the War of 1812 in Central Park ~ a refuge in times of Indian alarms. Rebuilt for Mansfield Centennial in 1908. Now used as a boy Scout meeting place." This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B11F09_001_001
Subjects: Architecture; Blockhouse (Mansfield, Ohio); Dwellings; Housing; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Mansfield (Ohio); Richland County (Ohio)