{"nrhp_refnum":"82001367","name":"House of Wills","other_names":["Cleveland GesangVerein Hall","Cleveland Hebrew Institute"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2491 E. 55th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cleveland","county":"Cuyahoga County","state":"OH","lat":41.49071648800003,"lon":-81.65140569999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-12-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 3-1/2 story brick building at 2491 East 55th Street in Cleveland, Ohio, erected in 1900 for the Cleveland Gesang Verein, a German singing society and social hall. It was designed by Frederic W. Striebinger and now serves as a funeral home.","why_significant":"The building documents changing social patterns in Cleveland. It was first a German social hall, then a Hebrew school, then home to Black Baptist churches and a Masonic hall, and since 1941 the House of Wills, a leading Black funeral home. It is also an example of work by Striebinger, described as a major Cleveland eclectic architect.","narrative":"Built in 1900 at 2491 East 55th Street in Cleveland, this brick building was designed by architect Frederic W. Striebinger for the Cleveland Gesang Verein, a German singing society and social hall. Its later uses trace shifts in the surrounding community. From 1921 to 1932 it housed the Cleveland Hebrew School and Institute. Between 1937 and 1941 it served various Black Baptist congregations and a Masonic hall. Since 1941 it has been the House of Wills, a leading Black funeral home in the city. The building is 3-1/2 stories with a T-shaped plan, a steep gabled roof with wall dormers, stone trim, and windows divided by stone mullions. Double-height paired windows mark the facade, and stone courses define each floor level. A rear wing has brick buttresses and shed-roof dormers. It sits beside Shiloh Baptist Church on a major north-south street. Its layered history of German, Jewish and Black community use is the basis of its significance.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Frederic W. Striebinger (architect)","architectural_style":"Eclectic","criteria":[],"status_note":"In use as a funeral home (House of Wills) since 1941; exterior condition listed as good, with alterations noted.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.022052-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82001367.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001367/d6bce358e5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001367/d6bce358e5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 1.0","author":"Christopher Busta-Peck","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_of_Wills_Cleveland_Ohio.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Christopher Busta-Peck</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 1.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_of_Wills_Cleveland_Ohio.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71984624","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137699109"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/cuyahoga-county/house-of-wills-82001367/"}