{"nrhp_refnum":"95000495","name":"Cincinnati and Suburban Telephone Company Building","other_names":["Cincinnati Bell Telephone Company Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"209 W. Seventh St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cincinnati","county":"Hamilton County","state":"OH","lat":39.10284785600004,"lon":-84.51711978999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-04-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Communications","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A twelve-story limestone office and telephone exchange building with a two-story penthouse at 209 W. Seventh Street in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, completed in 1930 and designed by architect Harry Hake Sr.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant under Criterion A for its role in the growth of local telephone use and long distance communications in Cincinnati. It also qualifies under Criterion C as a downtown example of Art Deco, with motifs expressing the telephone industry. It is the only surviving downtown building tied to the city's telephone history.","narrative":"Rising twelve stories with a two-story penthouse, this limestone building at 209 W. Seventh Street in downtown Cincinnati was built in 1930 as a joint facility for the Cincinnati and Suburban Telephone Company and American Telephone and Telegraph. Harry Hake designed it in the Art Deco style, adding bas-relief telephones and tools, decorative metal grilles, and copper entry work with geometric and human figures. Inside, the foyer and elevator lobby feature polychrome marble, terrazzo inlays and a domed ceiling. The building held the downtown exchange, long distance operations, and equipment testing, and was among the first places to introduce dial service in the city. The company's earlier Fourth Street office was demolished in 1983, leaving this as the only surviving downtown building tied to Cincinnati's telephone history. A 1974 addition removed the original west wall, and upper floors have been altered for equipment needs.","period_of_significance":"1929-1944","architect_builder":"Hake, Harry Sr.","architectural_style":"Modern Movement/Art Deco","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used for telephone equipment; a large addition in 1974 replaced the original west wall and a new entry was added on the south facade.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.281967-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/95000495.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000495/f4d1500d3e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000495/f4d1500d3e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Photo by Greg Hume (Greg5030)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CincinnatiBell.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Photo by Greg Hume (Greg5030)</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:CincinnatiBell.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989197","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_and_Suburban_Telephone_Company_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5120342"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/hamilton-county/cincinnati-and-suburban-telephone-company-building-95000495/"}