{"nrhp_refnum":"80003174","name":"Dunbar Historic District","other_names":["See Also:Paul Laurence Dunbar House"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"N. Summit St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dayton","county":"Montgomery County","state":"OH","lat":39.75662847250004,"lon":-84.21869664948943,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Architecture","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-acre historic district along three blocks of North Summit Street, with a few buildings on West First and West Second Streets, in Dayton, Ohio. It is made up of late nineteenth-century houses around the Paul Laurence Dunbar House.","why_significant":"The district extends the nationally significant Paul Laurence Dunbar House, a site in the history of literature. Its architecturally significant buildings from the last quarter of the nineteenth century are historically and visually tied to the house. They help interpret the house in an appropriate architectural setting.","narrative":"Three blocks of North Summit Street in Dayton, Ohio, along with a few buildings on nearby West First and West Second Streets, make up a small district built around the Paul Laurence Dunbar House. The buildings date largely from the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Most are brick houses in the High Victorian Italianate style, with rockfaced stone foundations, bracketed box cornices, polygonal bays and decorated metal window caps. At least one is a frame Eastlake house, described as the best preserved in the district. Several have wrought or cast iron fences. The district was drawn to give the Dunbar House, home of the celebrated Black poet, an architectural setting that helps visitors understand it. Nearby demolition and heavy renovation had damaged the surrounding historic character, so the boundaries include only the remaining buildings that contribute. Dunbar was born in Dayton in 1872 and gained national attention for his poetry. The nomination links the district to literature and to the social history of his career.","period_of_significance":"1870 - 1918","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"High Victorian Italianate and Eastlake","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is marked good and altered. Some porches are badly deteriorated, and some adjacent areas have been demolished or poorly renovated. Present uses include museum and private residence.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.474308-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/80003174.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003174/ae89c6bba5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003174/ae89c6bba5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dunbar_Historic_District.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dunbar_Historic_District.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990553","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5314145"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/montgomery-county/dunbar-historic-district-80003174/"}