{"nrhp_refnum":"05001213","name":"Selle Gear Company","other_names":["The Akron-Selle Company"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"451 S. High St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Akron","county":"Summit County","state":"OH","lat":41.073532045000036,"lon":-81.52203547199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-11-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Invention","Transportation","Architecture","Engineering"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly 70,000-square-foot red brick industrial complex at 451 South High Street in Akron, Summit County, Ohio. The original building dates to 1887, and additions followed in 1901-02, c.1907, c.1918, 1920 and c.1943.","why_significant":"The complex is argued to represent Akron's industrial growth from the carriage era through the automobile era and World War II. The 1887 building is a typical post-Civil War industrial type with Romanesque Revival features. The later additions show changing factory construction in brick, concrete and steel. The company's products and awards tie it to the history of transportation manufacturing.","narrative":"Occupying a block-wide site on South High Street in Akron, this red brick factory complex began in 1887 as the Selle Gear Company, a maker of wagon gears. The original four-story building has a gabled roof, exposed brick walls, sandstone base and Romanesque Revival details. A 1903 merger created the Akron-Selle Company, and the plant grew through additions in 1901-02, about 1907, about 1918, 1920 and about 1943. These show the move from wood-floored brick construction to concrete and steel factory buildings with large glazed walls. The company supplied the carriage trade, then made truck bodies for the automobile industry, and produced military parts during World War II. It won medals at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition for products invented by Ferdinand Selle. A tornado in 1943 destroyed the blacksmith shop section. Production ceased in the 1990s, and the buildings are now vacant. It remains one of the few surviving nineteenth-century industrial buildings in South Akron.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Original architect and contractor unknown; Frank O. Weary designed the 1901 and 1902 additions.","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Current function listed as work in progress/vacant/not in use; the company stopped production during the 1990s.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.038577-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/05001213.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05001213/fdbc4ebfb4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05001213/fdbc4ebfb4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Nola Bev","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Selle_Generator_Works_in_Downtown_Akron.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Nola Bev</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Selle_Generator_Works_in_Downtown_Akron.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991639","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138687753"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/summit-county/selle-gear-company-05001213/"}