{"nrhp_refnum":"100006862","name":"Madison Avenue Historic District Superior Street (Boundary Increase)","other_names":["Nr 86003829"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"311, 315-317, 319-323, 325-327, 329, 331-333, 335 North Superior St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Toledo","county":"Lucas County","state":"OH","lat":null,"lon":null,"geom_source":null},"listed_date":"2021-09-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of eleven early commercial skyscrapers and office buildings along Madison Avenue (with parts on Adams, Huron and Superior Streets) in downtown Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, built between 1893 and 1930.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the buildings form Toledo's only significant urban streetscape of early tall commercial buildings. They show several early skyscraper construction methods and elements of the Chicago School and Sullivanesque styles. They are also tied to Toledo's glass and automobile industries, whose companies kept offices there.","narrative":"Madison Avenue in downtown Toledo holds a row of early tall commercial buildings put up between 1893 and 1930, creating what the description calls a financial canyon. The district includes the 1893 Gardner Building, an early example of reinforced concrete office construction, the 1896 steel-framed Spitzer Building, the 17-story Nicholas Building of 1906, the terra cotta-clad Ohio Building, the Neo-Classical Toledo Trust Building, and the Art Deco Owens-Illinois Building of 1930, the tallest on the street at 368 feet. All were architect designed and vary in detail. The buildings reflect Toledo's growth as a commercial center, a glass-making capital and a secondary automobile center, and several housed the main offices of glass companies such as Owens-Illinois and Libbey-Owens-Ford. Two buildings, a 1940s Tudor Revival club and a heavily altered bank, do not contribute. The district was listed because it records the city's early skyscraper era before its economy faltered after 1930.","period_of_significance":"1890-1930","architect_builder":"Multiple; includes Charles Gardner (Gardner Building), Thomas F. Hubber (Spitzer Building), Bacon and Huber (Nicholas Building), Mills, Rhines, Bellman and Nordhoff, and builder A. Bentley and Sons","architectural_style":"Early skyscraper commercial architecture, including Chicago School, Sullivanesque, Neo-Classical Revival, Italian Renaissance Revival and Art Deco","criteria":[],"status_note":"Most buildings are described as in use as offices, banks and stores. Three buildings were demolished for parking, and one property at 421-23 Madison is listed as vacant.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.253987-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/86003829.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989953","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lucas-county/madison-avenue-historic-district-superior-street-boundary-increase-100006862/"}