Wooster Public Square Historic District (Boundary Increase)

Downtown Wooster's Public Square and the blocks of Liberty and Market Streets around it make up a historic district covering parts of eight blocks in the city's original 1808 plan. The Square is a 200 by 480 foot space shaped like a reversed L because the county courthouse occupies its northwest quadrant. The 1878-79 Second Empire courthouse is the dominant landmark. Around it stand commercial buildings from the 1830s onward, including Italianate blocks such as the 1875 cast iron Clark Building, Federal-style brick row buildings on West Liberty, and early 20th century Neo-classical and Renaissance Revival buildings. Wooster's growth was tied to its role as county seat and to the roads, canal and railroad that served it. The district was valued as the center of government and commerce, with Victorian streetscapes largely intact despite altered storefronts and cleared lots from urban renewal.