South Main Street Historic District

This stretch of South Main Street in downtown Akron, Ohio, preserves a group of commercial buildings from the 1910s to the early 1930s, when the city's business center moved south from the older Main and Market area. Most buildings are narrow, deep structures of four stories or fewer, anchored by larger buildings such as the 12-story Akron Savings and Loan, the six-story O'Neil's Department Store and a 16-story tower. Architects included Alfred Hopkins, John Eberson, and the firms Graham, Anderson, Probst & White and George B. Post & Sons. Styles range from common Commercial Style to Classical Revival, Renaissance Revival and Art Deco. The district reflects Akron's rubber boom, when population grew by over 200% between 1910 and 1920 and the 'Magic Years' of 1915-1920 brought heavy construction. Many buildings have lost original storefronts, windows or ornament, and some nearby sites became parking lots. Even so, the district keeps its historic character. Fourteen buildings contribute, and two of them, Loew's Theatre and O'Neil's, were already individually listed.