Greyhound Bus Station
Why it's listed
Greyhound's bus terminal at 1465 Chester Avenue in downtown Cleveland is a free-standing, three-story building faced in gray Indiana limestone with terra-cotta accents, blue porcelain steel panels and glass block windows. A 66-foot sign tower and a cantilevered marquee shaped like an airplane wing's leading edge mark the entrance. Inside, an open lobby with a curved oak-veneer balcony leads to a sawtooth bus dock that holds 21 buses. Architect William Strudwick Arrasmith designed it, and it opened on March 31, 1946, as the first terminal in Greyhound's postwar expansion. The nomination presents it as Cleveland's best and only pure example of Streamline Moderne, a style tied to cars, planes and trains and meant to project speed and efficiency. Other modern Cleveland buildings of the period were judged to follow different designs. Some original features, including a lobby mural and furniture, have been lost, but the building remains in use as a bus terminal.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the building is the best and only true example of Streamline Moderne architecture in Cleveland. It embodies the style's link to transportation and technological optimism, and it represents the peak of Greyhound's streamlined terminal designs. Because it was under 50 years old at nomination, it also met the exception for exceptional importance.
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 91000302, listed June 2, 1999. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 1465 Chester Ave., Cleveland |
|---|---|
| County | Cuyahoga County |
| Listed | June 2, 1999 |
| Reference number | 91000302 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1948 |
| Architect / builder | William Strudwick Arrasmith |
| Architectural style | Moderne: Streamlined Moderne |
| Criteria |
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| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still operating as a Greyhound/Trailways terminal and continuously used as a Greyhound terminal since 1946; a restaurant occupies one wing. |
| Acreage | 1.5 |
| Within district | Euclid Avenue Historic District |
| Coordinates | 41.50333, -81.68209 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
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 91000302.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q48817978
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.