Pythian Castle
- Style
- Romanesque Revival
- City
- Toledo, OH
Pythian Castle, at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and North Ontario Street in Toledo's Center City, is a Romanesque-style building built in 1890 by the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal organization, as a meeting place. Designed by Norval Bacon and Thomas Huber of the Toledo firm Bacon & Huber, the 30,000-square-foot building was described in 1908 as "the finest building to be found anywhere entirely devoted to the uses of Pythianism." It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
the building
The Jefferson Avenue turret. The building's highest point, a turret on Jefferson Avenue at City Center, rises 122 feet above the street, while the main roof reaches 79 feet — a castellated profile that gave the building its name.
the style
Pythian Castle is built in the Romanesque Revival style, its fortress-like, castellated character giving the building both its name and its strong presence on the street.
More on Romanesque Revivalthe architect
The building was designed by Norval Bacon and Thomas Huber, partners in the Toledo architectural firm of Bacon & Huber; no further biographical detail is provided.
significance
Pythian Castle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. After the Knights of Pythias sold the building to Greyhound Lines in 1951, it passed through later ownership, including a period in the 1970s when it housed a youth center, music store, art studio, and antique shop.
nearby
- Toledo Main Library
- Lasalle, Koch and Company Department Store
- Lucas County Courthouse and Jail
- Tower on the Maumee
- Valentine Theatre
- St. Patrick's Catholic Church