Aurora Center Historic District

Aurora Center is the residential heart of Aurora Township in Portage County, Ohio. The district covers about 21.5 acres along Chillicothe Road, Maple Lane and Pioneer Trail and holds twenty houses, two general stores, a church and a fire station. Most buildings are Greek and Gothic Revival homes from the mid-nineteenth century, with Adam, Federal, Italianate and Queen Anne examples as well. The oldest notable house, a Federal brick home on Pioneer Trail, was built by Alanson Baldwin in 1826. The Church in Aurora, a frame High Victorian Gothic building dedicated in 1872, imitates brick forms. The township was a significant mercantile center, known especially for making and shipping cheese, with mills and factories located separately at Aurora Depot. Homes here belonged to families named in early histories, including the Baldwins, Egglestons, Harmons and Hurds. The district was recognized because it keeps the look of a prosperous nineteenth century town street, with many buildings of good architectural quality.