Broadway Avenue Historic District
Also known as: See Also:Hruby Conservatory of Music
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Why it's listed
Broadway Avenue and East 55th Street form the center of a compact commercial district on Cleveland's southeast side. It holds 43 buildings built between 1888 and about 1930, plus a church and a school, mostly one to six stories and set directly at the sidewalk. The street grew as a retail strip along the Broadway streetcar line and served Cleveland's Czech community, which was second in size only to Chicago's. Czech settlers moved southeast along Broadway from earlier neighborhoods as they found work in the industrial Flats. The architecture is varied. Neo-Classical bank buildings are a main feature, alongside a turreted Queen Anne corner building, the Victorian Italianate Zverina Block, the Second Renaissance Revival Hruby Conservatory, and a decagonal public library branch. Local architects such as Andrew Mitermiler, Emile Uhlrich and Charles Morris contributed designs. Storefront alterations and signs are common, but the district keeps its low-scale commercial character. It was listed for its ethnic heritage and its architecture.
Significance in brief: The district was the commercial heart of Cleveland's Czech community and a retail strip that grew along the Broadway streetcar line. It also holds a varied group of late 19th and early 20th century commercial buildings, including several Neo-Classical banks and work by noted local architects.
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) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 88001860, listed October 19, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Broadway and Hamlet Aves. and E. Fifty-fifth St., Cleveland |
|---|---|
| County | Cuyahoga County |
| Listed | October 19, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88001860 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1888-1930 |
| Architect / builder | various; includes Andrew Mitermiler, Steffens & Steffens, Emile Uhlrich, Ernest McGeorge, Charles Morris (Lehman and Schmitt), J. W. Hradek, Badgley & Nickles, Frank Linka |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian; Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements (Neo-Classical, Commercial, Queen Anne, Victorian Italianate, Second Renaissance Revival) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | European, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still in commercial and financial use; storefront alterations and signage are the main changes, and a few buildings have boarded upper windows or three vacant lots. |
| Acreage | 14 |
| Coordinates | 41.46725, -81.65043 (NPS GIS) |
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.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 88001860.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q30610303
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.