{"nrhp_refnum":"89000174","name":"St. Bernard's Church","other_names":["Sum-342-16"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"240 S. Broadway St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Akron","county":"Summit County","state":"OH","lat":41.07820527900003,"lon":-81.51850098599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-03-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. Bernard's Church is a cruciform Romanesque Revival Catholic church at 240 South Broadway Street in Akron, Summit County, Ohio. It was built of rock-faced sandstone ashlar and completed in 1905 after three years of construction.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is significant under Criterion C for architecture, as the most highly developed example of late Romanesque Revival architecture in Akron. It has the style's symmetrical massing, round arches, paired towers and Richardsonian touches. Buildings of this style are rare in Akron, and the interior and exterior retain a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"St. Bernard's Church, at 240 South Broadway Street in Akron, is a cruciform sandstone church completed in 1905. The parish was formed in 1861 by German Catholics, and groundbreaking took place in 1901 for a church meant to replace an earlier Gothic Revival building across the street. Architect William P. Ginther, an Akron designer and member of the congregation, drew the plans. The front-gabled nave is flanked by two square towers with pyramidal roofs, and round arches appear in nearly every opening. Random coursed, rock-faced ashlar and deep-set windows show the influence of H. H. Richardson's work. Inside, the floors and altars are Italian marble, and more than thirty original stained glass windows, murals and twelve major statues remain. A second altar was added around 1967, and the side doors were replaced around 1985. The church was listed because it is Akron's most distinctive and significant example of Romanesque Revival architecture, a style that is rare in the city.","period_of_significance":"1905","architect_builder":"Ginther, William P.","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a church (current function: religious structure); interior and exterior retain a high degree of integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.282815-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/89000174.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000174/9ae8fcc208-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000174/9ae8fcc208-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Robbie Schneider","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Bernard%27s_Church_(Akron,_Ohio).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Robbie Schneider</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Bernard%27s_Church_(Akron,_Ohio).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991529","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bernard%27s_Church_(Akron,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7587282"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/summit-county/st-bernards-church-89000174/"}