Mechanicsburg Commercial Historic District

Four Italianate brick commercial buildings line the west side of South Main Street in Mechanicsburg, Ohio, forming a compact district with no intrusions. The largest is the three-story Hatcher Hotel, built in 1874 on the site of an earlier hotel that burned in 1869. It has segmental and round arched openings, hoodmoulds, stone sills and a bracketed metal cornice. Beside it stand three two-story buildings dating from about 1877 to 1880, once home to a candy store and ice cream parlor, a drug store and a grocery. Their varied stone window treatments, ornate hoodmoulds and decorative cornices show the flexibility of the style. The district was recognized because Mechanicsburg grew from about 1,200 to over 2,000 people between 1870 and 1890, as railroads, banks and industries arrived, and most earlier commercial structures were replaced with Italianate buildings. These four are among the few that kept their late 19th century character.