{"nrhp_refnum":"01000200","name":"William Tricker Inc. Historic District","other_names":["Independence Nurseries Company","W.G. O'Brien, Inc."],"category":"district","location":{"address":"7125 Tanglewood Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Independence","county":"Cuyahoga County","state":"OH","lat":41.38899876600004,"lon":-81.63950227199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-03-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Invention","Agriculture","Other"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly 3-acre nursery complex at 7125 Tanglewood Drive in Independence, Ohio, with a main building and second building (both 1928), eight Lord and Burnham aquatic greenhouses, spring, ponds and a gas well, developed from about 1919.","why_significant":"The nursery grew into a pioneering aquatic greenhouse business that produced water lilies, tropical fish and aquarium supplies. Research on the property in the mid-1920s led to the first pH test kit, invented by chemist William G. O'Brien, and to the first outside aquarium air filters in the U.S. in 1934. It is also tied to O'Brien's productive years.","narrative":"Eight miles south of Cleveland, a three-acre nursery in Independence, Ohio, preserves a rare commercial aquatic farm. Its core includes a 1928 concrete block main building holding the store, office and laboratory, a second 1928 building for potting and storage, and eight Lord and Burnham greenhouses with cypress and glass roofs and cement tanks for water lilies and fish. A spring flowing from an old sandstone quarry, outdoor ponds from about 1919 and a natural gas well drilled around 1900 still serve the operation. The property mattered because of what happened here between 1919 and 1934. It became a leading grower of aquatic plants and a major distributor of tropical fish. Chemist William G. O'Brien, who bought the business in 1924, developed the first pH test kit on the site, and in 1934 the firm introduced the first outside aquarium air filter made in the United States. The site retains much of its original character.","period_of_significance":"1919-1934","architect_builder":"Lord and Burnham Company (greenhouses)","architectural_style":"Early 20th Century/Commercial Style","criteria":["A","B"],"status_note":"Virtually unchanged since 1928; greenhouses, cement tanks, ponds and spring are still in use for aquatic plants and fish.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.686681-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/01000200.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71987921","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/cuyahoga-county/william-tricker-inc-historic-district-01000200/"}