The Beasley Building is a historic

commercial building Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

in downtown Athens, Ohio, United States. Constructed at the turn of the 20th century, this industrial building has been named a historic site. Built of brick with elements of iron, the Beasley Building is a three- story structure with a five-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

facade. Each bay features paired Romanesque Revival windows above a

beltcourse A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the fl ...

with

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, while an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

of geometric shapes surrounds the building near its roofline. Upon its construction, the building was intended to convey a sense of architectural balance, contrasting the two-story height of the main windows with the beltcourse and frieze, as well as a sense of pure massiveness.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 41. Situated in downtown Athens, the Beasley Building lies within an area that has served as Athens' commercial center since the community's founding. Substantial industry in the area began in 1840 when the

Hocking Canal The Hocking Canal, in southeastern Ohio, was a small 19th century lateral/feeder canal of the Ohio-Erie Canal. It began in Carroll, Ohio (which was on the Ohio-Erie Canal) and ran to Athens, Ohio. It paralleled the Hocking River in most places, ...

was constructed through the area, and the coming of the

Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad Scioto is a word of Wyandot origin given to the Scioto River, which flows southwards from north central Ohio to the Ohio River. :Scioto may also refer to: Places In Ohio *Little Scioto River (disambiguation), several flowing watercourses * Scio ...

in 1855 expanded its commercial importance. Charles Higgins, a local miller, was one of the partners in the firm of Eldridge and Higgins, which bought the building's site in 1904 and began construction, although it was then purchased by Frank Beasley, a prominent miller from nearby Amesville. His firm eventually turned the Beasley Building into the region's largest gristmill powered by electricity, although it eventually closed and was converted for grocery purposes. Late in 1982, the Beasley Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying both because of its architecture and its place in the area's history. One year later, the building was awarded approximately $1.1 million in federal rehabilitation tax credits.Approved Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit Projects by County
University of Toledo, 2009-01-28, 1. Accessed 2013-12-08.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Athens County, Ohio Food retailers of the United States Grinding mills on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Commercial buildings completed in 1905 Buildings and structures in Athens, Ohio 1905 establishments in Ohio