{"nrhp_refnum":"83004114","name":"South Fountain Avenue Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly Fountain Ave. and Limestone St. from Perrin to Monroe Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Clark County","state":"OH","lat":39.914520144500045,"lon":-83.81083568764085,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-12-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district of about 15 square blocks (roughly 58 acres) just south of downtown Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, centered on South Fountain Avenue and the west side of South Limestone Street, developed from the 1850s to about 1910.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be the largest intact concentration of high-style late 19th and early 20th century homes in Springfield. It reflects the rise of the upper middle class and the prosperity of the industrial and business leaders, such as those tied to the James Leffel Co. and Whitely, Fassler & Kelly, who lived there during the city's industrial boom.","narrative":"South Fountain Avenue and the adjoining stretch of South Limestone Street form a dense residential neighborhood of about 15 blocks south of downtown Springfield, Ohio. Most of the growth came between 1870 and 1900, when the city became a major manufacturing center, especially for farm machinery. Large houses sit on narrow lots close to the street, shaded by mature trees. The district includes Greek Revival-Italianate, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Eastlake and Colonial Revival buildings, along with more modest turn-of-the-century frame houses on the side streets. Many homes were built for executives and owners of firms such as the James Leffel Co. and Whitely, Fassler & Kelly, later the Champion Company. Other buildings include a 1918 synagogue, a 1922 apartment building and a 1909 fire station. The district was recognized as the city's largest intact collection of high-style homes from the period and as a record of the prosperity of its business and industrial leaders.","period_of_significance":"1870 - 1900","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival-Italianate, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Eastlake, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Form lists the district as both occupied and unoccupied, with mixed uses including private residences, commercial, religious and government. A few altered background buildings and very few recent non-conforming buildings are noted.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.111855-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/83004114.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71987086","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/clark-county/south-fountain-avenue-historic-district-83004114/"}