Village Park Historic District (Boundary Increase)

This addition to Canton's Village Park Historic District extends the protected area west along Main Street toward the Grasse River. It takes in the whole north side of Main Street from Court Street to Riverside Drive and four commercial buildings on the south side, 32 structures in all, built between about 1870 and 1924. Most are two-story brick blocks with flat roofs and Italianate detailing, rebuilt largely in the 1870s and 1880s after a series of fires. Shops occupy the ground floors, with apartments or meeting halls above. On the south side, one Italianate building is wooden, and a 1921 theater and a 1924 Classical bank stand out among the others. The added blocks match the scale, materials and decoration of the original district and continue its streetscape. Together they show Canton's role as county seat and as the commercial and social center for the surrounding rural area. Despite fires and altered storefronts, the buildings still convey the nineteenth-century business community of this small village.