{"nrhp_refnum":"78002195","name":"Quaker Oats Cereal Factory","other_names":["Quaker Square"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"120 E. Mill St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Akron","county":"Summit County","state":"OH","lat":41.08119446100005,"lon":-81.51483380799993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former cereal mill and grain storage complex covering roughly a city block at Broadway and Mill Streets in downtown Akron, Summit County, Ohio. The brick mill buildings date from 1872, were rebuilt after an 1886 fire, and are joined by concrete silos and an elevator tower.","why_significant":"The complex is the only remaining visual reminder in Akron of the Quaker Oats Company, which began there and was once the city's largest employer. Quaker developed early national brand advertising, slogans and consumer packaging while based in Akron. The buildings have also been recycled into a retail center.","narrative":"Covering the equivalent of a city block in downtown Akron, this former cereal factory grew from the milling operation Ferdinand Schumacher began in 1854. In 1872 he built his expanded German Mills complex on the site. After a fire in 1886, the buildings were replaced with similar ones on the same stone foundations. Later additions include a steel-frame link building, a former rail siding shed, a 1900 express agency depot, and thirty-six poured concrete grain silos about 90 feet tall, with a stepped elevator tower. Quaker Oats was once Akron's biggest industry and largest employer, and while based here the company pioneered national brand advertising, an early product slogan, whistle-stop sales campaigns and small consumer packages. The complex is now the city's only remaining visual link to the company. Adapted in the 1970s as a specialty shopping and restaurant center, it keeps the look of an industrial mill complex, contrasting smooth silos with textured brick warehouses.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900-","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in good condition; adapted as the Quaker Square specialty shopping and restaurant complex, with the elevator building and dry house not yet rehabilitated.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.109736-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/78002195.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002195/573f19f577-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002195/573f19f577-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Dcamp314","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:QuakerSquareNE.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Dcamp314</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:QuakerSquareNE.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991619","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_Square","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7268566"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/summit-county/quaker-oats-cereal-factory-78002195/"}