The Floral Hall is a historic community building in the city of

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

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. Constructed in the 1880s for one of two competing

county fairs An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhib ...

, it is typical of exhibition buildings from the period. Although no longer used for the county fair, it has been named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

History

Background

The first Wood County fair was held in 1851 in Bowling Green, although the next five years saw it held also at Perrysburg and Portageville, due partially to dissension among the sponsoring Agricultural Society members and partially to the presence of diseases such as

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and ague in the different grounds. The board purchased land at Tontogany for permanent fair grounds after the end of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

,''Commemorative Historical and Biographical Record of Wood County, Ohio: Its Past and Present''.

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: Beers, 1897. but Bowling Green still retained the memory of holding the county fair. This state of affairs ultimately induced the formation of a separate Wood County Fair Company in Bowling Green, which obtained land in Bowling Green and began holding fairs in 1881, becoming successful enough that the Agricultural Society began merger talks in 1885. From 1884 until 1894, their receipts grew from $3,889.30 to $7,945.99.

Usage

The Floral Hall was constructed in 1884 at the fairgrounds in Bowling Green; it originally held horticultural exhibits, although in the 20th century it was renamed "Needle Hall" after it began hosting

needlework Needlework is decorative sewing and textile arts handicrafts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework. Needlework may include related textile crafts such as crochet, worked with a hook, or tatting, worked with a ...

exhibitions. In later years, the fair moved to another location, the original grounds were converted into a city park, and all other buildings from the fairgrounds were eventually destroyed. However, the city retained the floral/needle hall, changing it into a picnic shelter and carefully attending to the building's upkeep.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 2.

St. Clair Shores St. Clair Shores is a suburban city bordering Lake St. Clair in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms a part of the Metro Detroit area, and is located about northeast of downtown Detroit. Its population was 59,715 at the 2010 ...

: Somerset, 1999, 1414.

Architecture

Built of wood, the building sits on a brick

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and is covered with a shingled roof. Stone elements are also present,,

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, 2007. Accessed 2014-02-22. and the

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

is built of wood. One

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

tall, the hall is an octagonal structure, typical of Ohio floral halls from the period; its plan is essentially a modified

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

. The doors and other parts of the facade bear Stick-style detailing. In 1982, the former floral/needle hall was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, qualifying both because of its architecture and because of its place in local history. It is one of five National Register-listed locations in Bowling Green, and one of thirty-one in Wood County. Another Register-listed octagonal floral hall is located on the Morrow County fairgrounds in Mount Gilead.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures completed in 1884 Buildings and structures in Wood County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Wood County, Ohio Convention centers in Ohio Municipal parks in the United States Octagonal buildings in the United States Tourist attractions in Wood County, Ohio Wooden buildings and structures in the United States Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Bowling Green, Ohio