East 89th Street Historic District
Also known as: See Also: Bell, Dr. James, House
Why it's listed
East 89th Street, running between Chester and Hough Avenues on Cleveland's east side, holds thirty-two buildings, mostly large frame houses of two and a half stories set back about fifteen feet on generous lots. The earliest, an Italianate house of about 1875, was the first built on the street, and construction continued into 1912. Its proximity to Euclid Avenue made it a desirable address, and several business leaders lived here, including the president of the National Refining Company and a Chamber of Commerce president. The street displays Queen Anne turrets and wraparound porches, Colonial Revival and Dutch Colonial Revival designs, a Richardsonian Romanesque brick house, and two apartment buildings, one Neoclassical and one with Tudor Revival elements. Architects included Coburn and Barnum and Rogers, MacFarlane of Detroit. Later decades brought boarding houses and population decline in the Hough area, yet this street remains the most intact of the neighborhood's once-wealthy streets, which is the basis for its listing for architecture.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to be an important surviving collection of late 19th and early 20th century residential architecture in Cleveland. The street developed near Euclid Avenue and attracted wealthy industrialists, and it remains the most intact of the once-wealthy streets in the Hough neighborhood. It includes Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and other styles, with works by several noted 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 88000678, listed May 26, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | E. Eighty-ninth St. roughly between Chester and Hough Aves., Cleveland |
|---|---|
| County | Cuyahoga County |
| Listed | May 26, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88000678 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1870s-1912 |
| Architect / builder | various; including Coburn and Barnum (Lamprecht House), Rogers, MacFarlane of Detroit (Dyer House), Fredrick Baird (Bolton Apartments), George Hardway (Dr. James Bell House) |
| Architectural style | Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | All thirty-two resources are contributing and the district has no intrusions; the buildings are historically and currently single dwellings, along with two apartment buildings. |
| Acreage | 8 |
| Coordinates | 41.50757, -81.62500 (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 88000678.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q85157426
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.