West Fourth Street Historic District (Boundary Increase)

This addition to the West Fourth Street Historic District in downtown Cincinnati moves the boundary one block east to Vine Street. It takes in a group of commercial buildings along West Fourth, built from 1856 to 1916, along with a 1913 office tower. Facades of brick, cut stone, terra cotta and art tile show Renaissance Revival, Commercial Queen Anne, Tudor Revival and Beaux-Arts Classical styles. Highlights include the Union Central Life Insurance Building, designed by Cass Gilbert and the city's second-tallest skyscraper at 495 feet. Also included are the Shillito/McAlpin's building, a rare mid-19th-century department store, and the Woodruff/Gidding Building, whose 1907 storefront of Rookwood tile was restored in 2003. Fourth Street has long been regarded as the heart of downtown, and these buildings preserve its dense, pedestrian-scaled streetwall. The addition was proposed to give a more complete account of the street's architecture and its role as the city's premier shopping and financial district.