{"nrhp_refnum":"08000624","name":"Medfair Heights Apartment Historic District","other_names":["Liberty S. Apts., dunbar Circle Apts., North Street Apts.","Walden Apts."],"category":"district","location":{"address":"221 N. State St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Medina","county":"Medina County","state":"OH","lat":41.14164596900008,"lon":-81.87954788699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-07-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district of 19 one-story concrete block buildings (18 four-unit apartment buildings and a community building) at 221 North State Street, Medina, Ohio, built in 1943 as WWII defense worker housing on about 9.7 acres.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a surviving example of federally funded wartime housing built to Federal Housing Administration standards under the Lanham Act, important for community planning and social history. It also housed workers for the nearby Permold aluminum plant, many of them African American, and Jamaican workers, and the town's integration of these new residents is presented as notably positive. Its village-style layout, open lawns and simple, uniform buildings are cited as architectural evidence.","narrative":"Medfair Heights is a wartime housing complex on the edge of Medina, Ohio, built in 1943 for workers at the nearby Permold aluminum castings plant. Nineteen one-story concrete block buildings, eighteen with four apartments each and one community building, face inward toward each other across open lawns that cover about 75 percent of the site. Built on a tight Lanham Act budget to Federal Housing Administration standards, the buildings are plain, with gabled roofs, brick chimneys, one-over-one wooden windows and small canopies over the doors. Inside, the concrete block walls remain unplastered. Two buildings were lost to fire around 1977. The complex is significant for its planning, its modest architecture and its social history. Many residents were African American workers, and Jamaican workers were housed in trailers beside the apartments. Local leaders, the newspaper and federal staff helped Medina accept the newcomers, and residents formed their own social club and held dances and classes in the community building.","period_of_significance":"1943-1953","architect_builder":"National Housing Agency; Engineer: J.R. Barth (Federal Housing Authority); Contractor: Alger Rau, Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio)","architectural_style":"No Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as multiple dwellings; two of the original 21 buildings burned about 1977, and most original exterior features, including windows and lawns, remain, though the wooden door trellises are lost.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.445241-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/08000624.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990209","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/medina-county/medfair-heights-apartment-historic-district-08000624/"}