When ancient Greek architecture was recorded and published in the middle of the 18th century, it opened a new chapter in Classical architecture. James "Athenian" Stuart and Nicholas Revett, members of the Dilettanti Society in England, set out on an adventure in 1751 to precisely record those monuments for posterity. The first volume of their Antiquities of Athens was published in 1762 and the results were almost immediate. A new era of magnificent Grecian architecture throughout Europe and America began. Its 19th-century permeation of America made it our national architecture. Examples include the U.S. Capitol by Benjamin Latrobe, the Tennessee State Capitol by William Strickland, plantations in Natchez, MS, and courthouses and stately homes from Maine to Oregon. Easily recognizable, these buildings are Classically proportioned, frequently temple-like in form and contain detailing based directly on their ancient Greek predecessors. American Grecian architecture includes the Doric, Ionic or Corinthian order, which Minard Lafever details in his 1833 book, Modern Builders Guide (illustrated below), another popular reference for Ohio's Grecian builders.

This detail of the Temple of Theseus is an example of the Greek Doric order, the oldest and simplest of the Classical orders. From the bottom of the building to the top, features of the Doric order are illustrated: the stylobate, fluted column, capital, the frieze of metopes and triglyphs and a cornice.	The Greek Ionic order, illustrated by the Temple of the Ilissus, is characterized by the volutes of the capital and the simplicity of both the epistylium and frieze.	Corinthian is the most ornate of the Classical orders. Its acanthus leaves, cauliculus and helix are seen in this detail of the monument of Lysicrates at Athens.