North East Historic District

North East is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, whose historic district centers on commercial blocks around Lake and Main Streets. The town grew as a service center for surrounding farms after the railroad reached it in 1852. A fire on August 13, 1884 destroyed twenty-two businesses, and an 1884 ordinance then required brick construction and limited commercial buildings to two stories. Most of the district's commercial buildings were rebuilt in the years that followed, mainly in the Italianate style with storefronts, bracketed cornices, and flat roofs. The district also includes the Greek Revival Baptist church, a Gothic Revival Presbyterian church, a Victorian Gothic Methodist church, and the stone buildings of St. Mary's Seminary. Residential streets contain Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne and Bungalow houses. The district is regarded as the largest and best preserved group of high-style mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century buildings in northeastern Erie County, and its commercial role continued through 1939.