{"nrhp_refnum":"95001416","name":"Salem Downtown Historic District","other_names":["See Also:Salem Methodist Episcopal Church"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Vine Ave., Ohio Ave., E. Pershing St., S. Ellsworth Ave. and Sugar Tree Alley","address_restricted":false,"city":"Salem","county":"Columbiana County","state":"OH","lat":40.900774933000065,"lon":-80.82323820836095,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-12-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A commercial and civic historic district of about 95 acres in downtown Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio, containing 115 buildings dating from about 1840 to the 1940s, including shops, banks, churches, a library and fraternal lodges.","why_significant":"The district is argued to represent the commercial and social development of Salem through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is significant under criteria A, B and C for its commerce and architecture, with J. Twing Brooks named as a significant person. It retains a cohesive collection of Italianate, Neo-Classical, Colonial Revival and Art Deco buildings.","narrative":"Downtown Salem, Ohio, is preserved as a historic district of about 95 acres holding 115 buildings, of which 94 contribute to its character. Most are two- or three-story brick commercial blocks built between about 1840 and the 1940s, with the heaviest construction from 1895 to 1910. Italianate blocks, Colonial Revival buildings, the Art Deco State Theatre and Farmers National Bank, and the Neo-Classical Carnegie Library and bank buildings show the range of styles. The eastern edge holds the Library, the Memorial Building, several churches and two fraternal lodges, built by the Masons in 1922-23 and the Elks in 1927. A few houses remain, one now serving as the Salem Historical Society museum. Alterations are mostly at storefront level, and the churches and civic buildings are well preserved. The district was listed for its architecture and its record of the city's commercial and social growth, and it is also tied to J. Twing Brooks and to local abolitionist history.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1840-1945","architect_builder":"Hutton, Finley; Owsley, Charles W.","architectural_style":"Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Romanesque, Gothic Revival, Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Late Gothic Revival, Art Deco","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Some buildings have been restored or rehabilitated, including the Home Savings and Loan Building, the State Theatre and the Kresge building. A 1994-1995 streetscape program was completed. Some demolition has occurred, and some storefronts have been altered.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.353933-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/95001416.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001416/f540c186cb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001416/f540c186cb-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Street_in_the_Salem_Downtown_HD.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:State_Street_in_the_Salem_Downtown_HD.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71987222","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_Downtown_Historic_District_(Salem,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7404090"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/columbiana-county/salem-downtown-historic-district-95001416/"}