{"nrhp_refnum":"90000755","name":"Tuscarawas Avenue-Alexander Square Commercial Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Bounded by Park Ave., Tuscarawas Ave., 4th and 5th Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Barberton","county":"Summit County","state":"OH","lat":41.01309679050007,"lon":-81.61059539640591,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-05-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A compact commercial historic district of 15 buildings in downtown Barberton, Summit County, Ohio, covering one block of Tuscarawas Avenue and the Park Avenue buildings facing Lake Anna Park. The buildings date from 1891 to 1938, with one 1954 building counted as non-contributing.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be the most intact and cohesive collection of late 19th and early 20th century commercial architecture in Barberton. Its buildings show the growth of the planned industrial town from its 1891 founding through the late 1930s. It is significant under criteria A and C for commerce, community development and architecture.","narrative":"Downtown Barberton, Ohio, contains a compact district of 15 buildings along one block of Tuscarawas Avenue and facing Lake Anna Park on Park Avenue. Built between 1891 and 1938, mostly in the 1920s, the buildings range from one to four stories and use brick, terra cotta, tile and sandstone. Highlights include the 1891 Tracy Block, the city's first three-story brick business block, and the 1928 Weisberger Building, which housed its first department store. Three early theaters add variety: the Pastime and Park with classical terra cotta facades, and the 1938 Lake Theater in Art Moderne style with Tennessee sandstone and glass block. Park Avenue holds a 1925 funeral home and a 1925 Masonic Temple. The district reflects the growth of the planned industrial town founded by O. C. Barber in 1891, and it is regarded as the city's most cohesive and intact commercial streetscape. Only the 1954 municipal building is non-contributing.","period_of_significance":"1891-1938","architect_builder":"Harpster & Bliss, Akron; George Howard Burrows, Shaker Heights","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Classical Revival, Art Moderne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Buildings remain largely intact with few alterations; uses include specialty stores, theaters and a meeting hall. The Park Theater is still used as a children's theater.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.854198-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/90000755.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000755/e65be4fa41-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000755/e65be4fa41-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TUSCARAWAS_AVENUE-ALEXANDER_SQUARE_COMMERCIAL_HISTORIC_DISTRICT,_BARBERTON,_SUMMIT_COUNTY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TUSCARAWAS_AVENUE-ALEXANDER_SQUARE_COMMERCIAL_HISTORIC_DISTRICT,_BARBERTON,_SUMMIT_COUNTY.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100007724","name":"Barberton Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/barberton-downtown-historic-district-100007724/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991569","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47512920"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/summit-county/tuscarawas-avenue-alexander-square-commercial-historic-district-90000755/"}