{"nrhp_refnum":"80003154","name":"Hotel Harding","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"267 W. Center St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marion","county":"Marion County","state":"OH","lat":40.58825267100008,"lon":-83.13301125099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-03-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eight-story reinforced concrete hotel at 267 West Center Street in Marion, Ohio, built in 1924 and faced in dark brown brick with cut stone detailing.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a good local example of Renaissance Revival architecture, typical of grand early twentieth-century hotels. It is also tied to President Warren G. Harding, who campaigned from Marion, and the hotel was built to lodge the many visitors drawn to the town. Its size reflects a local building and industrial boom.","narrative":"Marion's first eight-story building, this 146-room hotel on West Center Street opened on February 1, 1924, at a cost of $750,000. Its reinforced concrete frame is faced in dark brown brick, with hand-cut stone columns, spandrels, window surrounds and parapet entablatures in the Renaissance Revival manner. Inside, the two-story lobby has walnut woodwork, Corinthian columns, a Tennessee marble floor and ornamental plaster ceilings bearing an \"H\" logo. The hotel grew out of Marion's role in Warren G. Harding's presidential campaign, which brought crowds of visitors and strained local lodging. Harding's brother-in-law helped form the company that built it, and architect William Earl Russ designed it. Presidents Coolidge and Hoover later stayed there. Construction began with a gas-electric power shovel from a local manufacturer. The interior has suffered vandalism and water damage, and the building had long stood vacant when plans arose to convert it to commercial use as part of downtown revitalization.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"William Earl Russ of Indianapolis, Indiana (architect); B.J. Gonssowski of Bucyrus, Ohio (excavators)","architectural_style":"Renaissance Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as vacant for many years, with interior damage from vandals and water; plans called for conversion to shops, restaurants and a commercial center.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.266365-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/80003154.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003154/a4b9831af3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003154/a4b9831af3-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_Harding_front.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_Harding_front.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100007469","name":"Marion Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/marion-downtown-historic-district-100007469/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990169","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138569675"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/marion-county/hotel-harding-80003154/"}