{"nrhp_refnum":"92001245","name":"Ideal Department Store Building","other_names":["Snyder-Hess Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"55--59 Lincoln Way E.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Massillon","county":"Stark County","state":"OH","lat":40.79631717500007,"lon":-81.52211320399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-09-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eight-story steel-frame commercial building at 55-59 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon, Stark County, Ohio, built 1918-21 for the Hess-Snyder Company's Ideal Department Store and office space.","why_significant":"It was Massillon's first high-rise and illustrates the city's rise as a steel-based industrial and commercial center in the 1910s and 1920s (Criterion A, commerce). It is also the city's only example of the Commercial Style, with classical terra cotta detailing (Criterion C, architecture). It was an early commission for Cleveland architect William Robert Powell.","narrative":"Rising eight stories above Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon, this steel-frame building was completed in 1921 as the city's first high-rise. The Hess-Snyder Company, longtime stove and furnace makers, built it to house the Ideal Company department store, with rental offices on the top three floors. Cleveland architect William Robert Powell is credited with the design, which follows the Commercial Style: a flat roof with a modest cornice, tripartite windows, and a clear base, shaft and crown. Terra cotta with classical details covers the lower and upper floors, while brick faces the middle four. The building reflects Massillon's growth during the steel-driven expansion of the 1910s and 1920s. In 1925 much of the ground floor became a bank, with a large vault added, while the department store kept operating into the late 1950s. The bank left in 1986, and the building is now vacant, though its upper facades and many interior features survive.","period_of_significance":"1918 - 1942","architect_builder":"Powell, William Robert","architectural_style":"Commercial Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed current function is vacant/not in use; the bank that occupied the ground floor left in 1986. The north storefront has been altered, while the upper facades and east elevation remain largely intact.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.342112-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/92001245.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001245/c9d9ea2188-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001245/c9d9ea2188-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ideal_Department_Store_Building_(Massillon,_OH).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</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:Ideal_Department_Store_Building_(Massillon,_OH).JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100002553","name":"Massillon Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/massillon-downtown-historic-district-100002553/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991444","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138685602"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/stark-county/ideal-department-store-building-92001245/"}