{"nrhp_refnum":"99000276","name":"Power Building","other_names":["Ham-5450-44"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"224 E. 8th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cincinnati","county":"Hamilton County","state":"OH","lat":39.10528605700006,"lon":-84.50893992099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A ten-story brick Commercial style industrial building at 224 E. 8th Street, at the northwest corner of Sycamore and East Eighth Streets in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, built in 1903 and designed by Harry Hake and Partners.","why_significant":"The building is significant under Criterion C as an early work of Cincinnati architect Harry Hake and as a distinctive example of Commercial style architecture applied to a large industrial building. It is the only surviving example of its style and scale among early twentieth century industrial buildings downtown. It is also the oldest surviving Cincinnati building that generated its own electricity, which gave it its name.","narrative":"Rising ten stories at the corner of Sycamore and East Eighth Streets in downtown Cincinnati, this brick building was completed in 1903 for industrial tenants. Cincinnati architect Harry Hake designed it early in his career. Its steel frame, pier-and-spandrel walls, three-part facade of base, middle floors and top floor, and tripartite windows are typical of Commercial style design, with Romanesque and Renaissance Revival touches at the entry and top floor. The name comes from its basement power plant, where a coal-fired steam engine drove a generator to supply electricity to tenants. It is the oldest surviving Cincinnati building known to have made its own power. Early occupants included printers, a book company and clothing manufacturers, and garment makers remained common for decades. It is the only surviving large industrial building in the city built in this style. Its scale and its link to Hake's growing firm supported its listing for architecture. The building is now vacant.","period_of_significance":"1903","architect_builder":"Architect: Harry Hake (Harry Hake and Partners); built by the Power Building Company","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Commercial Style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Listed current function is vacant/not in use; the last tenant was Polly Flinders, a maker of girls' dresses.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.381478-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/99000276.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000276/8ddbbb1b2e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000276/8ddbbb1b2e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"dave menninger","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ThePowerBuildingCincinnati.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">dave menninger</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ThePowerBuildingCincinnati.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988867","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14716787"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/hamilton-county/power-building-99000276/"}