{"nrhp_refnum":"82003585","name":"Ropes, Nathaniel, Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"917 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cincinnati","county":"Hamilton County","state":"OH","lat":39.10623076400003,"lon":-84.51098807599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-09-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick Queen Anne commercial building at 917 Main Street in Cincinnati's central business district, built around 1882 by Nathaniel Ropes. It measures about 45 by 90 feet.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is one of the best surviving Queen Anne commercial examples in Cincinnati. Its facade combines cast iron, sandstone, terra cotta, buttresses and corbel courses. Redevelopment has reduced the number of Queen Anne commercial buildings downtown, so few remain to show the style's range of details.","narrative":"Rising four stories on Main Street near the Hamilton County Courthouse, this brick commercial building dates from about 1882 and shows the Queen Anne style in a downtown setting. Nathaniel Ropes, who ran a lard, candle and oil manufacturing company, built it as a personal investment rather than for his firm. He had bought most of the land in 1844, put up a wood frame building, and replaced it with another in 1871 before adding land to the south for the present structure. The facade is its main attraction. It combines a cast iron storefront, sandstone lintels and belt courses, terra cotta panels and a decorated nameplate with the initials NR, corbeled buttresses, and a parapet with a blind colonnade. The interior is plain and functional. The building was listed because few Queen Anne commercial examples survive in Cincinnati's business district, and this one illustrates the style's variety of details especially well.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Unknown (built c. 1882 by Nathaniel Ropes as owner)","architectural_style":"Queen Anne commercial","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good and unaltered, on its original site. Commercial activities occupy the first-floor storefronts. The status is marked both occupied and unoccupied.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.763519-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82003585.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003585/0ba6021560-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003585/0ba6021560-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":null,"credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RopesBuilding.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown author</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RopesBuilding.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988955","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Ropes_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6969836"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/hamilton-county/ropes-nathaniel-building-82003585/"}