Center Street Historic District (Boundary Increase)

Center Street in Ashland, Ohio, developed as a continuous run of homes and churches stretching about seven blocks south from Town Creek. An earlier district listing left out the first and last blocks. This boundary increase adds nine houses and two churches at the two ends, along with two noncontributing buildings, so the district covers the whole residential stretch. The additions include Italianate, Queen Anne, Stick/Eastlake, Romanesque, American 4-Square and Bungalow examples, built between 1859 and about 1917. The street was laid out in 1846 and was paved and prosperous by the 1890s. These buildings housed or served families of the pump manufacturers, bankers and merchants who drove the town's growth, including the Myers and Freer families. A.N. Myers's house at 408 Center Street and Randolph Freer's brick Italianate house at 313 Center Street are among them. The increase was justified on architectural grounds, with a period of significance of about 1840 to 1929.