Glenn’s Boyhood Home Added to National Register Listing

The late Sen. John H. Glenn’s New Concord boyhood home is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a program to coordinate and support efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources. To be considered for the Register, a property must be associated with people or events that have made significant contributions to the nation’s history.

A dedication ceremony was held Sunday, May 19 at The John & Annie Glenn Museum. Lyn Glenn, John and Annie’s daughter, was among the 150 people in attendance. She shared her memories of the home and helped unveil the plaque that now hangs on the front porch.

“When I came to enjoy this house [then located at the corner of Friendship and Westview Drives]…they [Grandma and Grandpa Glenn] decided to expand the house…. There was a porch that was added…in the summer, we would sit on that porch in rocking chairs, with lemonade and iced tea and ice water, and talk. And that was kind of the heart of summer at this house…sitting on that porch,” said Glenn.

National Register Historic Preservation Consultant Nathalie Wright said Ohio ranks third in the nation for the number of listings in the Register. The Register includes objects, sites, buildings, historical sites, and structures.

Wright said the process to get something listed in the Register takes about one year to complete. The nomination first has multiple reviews by the State of Ohio Historic Preservation Office. It then goes before the 17-person Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board. The final review then goes to the National Park Service.

There were two challenges in obtaining the Register for the Glenn home. The National Register does not traditionally list properties that have been relocated. The Glenn home has been moved twice. Wright said an analysis was completed proving the current site is an “appropriate and comparable” site.

“The house’s relationship with New Concord, with the Village, is as important as the home itself. And the second move, here [on Main Street/U.S. Route 40], returned the house to the National Road in its village context,” said Wright.

The second challenge was proving the boyhood home is the best property to represent Glenn’s adulthood achievements.

Due to several residential moves during John’s career including Virginia and Texas, the Glenns still returned to New Concord for announcements and celebrations. Wright said the analysis concluded Glenn’s boyhood home is “the property most closely associated with John Glenn during the period that he gained national significance.”

Local and state dignitaries attended the dedication including New Concord Mayor Brett Essex, Muskingum University Provost Dr. Nancy Evangelista, East Muskingum Schools Superintendent Dave Adams, and Muskingum County Commissioner Mollie Crooks. Hillary Bates from the Ohio History Connection and Trevor Brown, Ohio State University Dean of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, were also at the ceremony.

Museum Executive Director Barb Hansen thanked past and present museum board members, donors, and the community for their support. “I’m sure when they [Herschel and Clara] moved into this house in 1923 they would have never imagined that any kind of celebration like this would ever occur,” said Hansen.

Glenn’s boyhood home has also been designated an Ohio Historic Site. The museum is open May-September.

Learn more about Glenn’s life through the “John Glenn: An American Hero” documentary produced by Muskingum University Media Production students in 2017.