Race Street Historic District
The National Park Service has not published a boundary polygon for this district; the map shows the listed properties inside it and the district's reference point.
Why it's listed
Race Street Historic District is a compact stretch of downtown Cincinnati made up of 25 commercial buildings along Race Street, Shillito Place and parts of West Sixth and West Seventh Streets. Buildings range from two to twelve stories, and most stand four to six stories tall, built to the sidewalk line. Unlike nearby blocks that have been redeveloped, the area keeps its early street pattern, including ten-foot-wide alleys. The buildings date from about 1850 to 1951 and show Italianate, Second Empire, Romanesque Revival, Italian Renaissance, Commercial and Moderne styles. Key buildings include the Lazarus Department Store, which began as the 1877 John Shillito Company store and was refaced in 1938 in a streamlined Moderne design. Others are the Robertson, Groton, Denton, Lancaster and Conrad buildings and the Cincinnati Gymnasium & Athletic Club. Architects such as Elzner & Anderson and Tietig & Lee designed some of them. The district was listed for its commercial history and architecture, with one noncontributing building.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | 1877-1951 |
|---|---|
| Styles | Mid-19th Century; Late Victorian; Late 19th and 20th Century American Movements (including Italianate, Second Empire, Romanesque Revival, Italian Renaissance, Commercial, Moderne) |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Acreage | 3 |
| Boundary source | not published |
| Full listing page | Race Street Historic District (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.