Ingalls Building
Also known as: The Transit Building
Why it's listed
Rising sixteen stories and 210 feet on a 50 by 100 foot footprint at 6 East Fourth Street, this Cincinnati office building was completed in 1902-03 with a frame made entirely of reinforced concrete. Its first three stories are faced in Vermont marble, and the floors above are covered in gray enameled brick. The design follows the late classical revival, with giant pilasters, an ornate entrance architrave and a heavy bracketed cornice. Elzner and Anderson were the architects, Henry Hooper was the structural engineer and the William H. Ellis Co. was the general contractor. The building is believed to be the world's first concrete skyscraper. Concrete was chosen mainly for economy, at a structural cost of $400,000, somewhat below steel. It also spared the site the heavy traffic and hoisting equipment that steel framing required. Critics predicted collapse, yet it remains in excellent condition, and the American Society of Civil Engineers named it a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1974.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents it as a pioneer work of reinforced-concrete construction and believes it to be the world's first concrete skyscraper. It combined all the major reinforced-concrete techniques then developed, and its construction offered lessons for later methods of building large urban structures. It was recognized in 1974 as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
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 75001418, listed March 7, 1975. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 6 E. 4th St., Cincinnati |
|---|---|
| County | Hamilton County |
| Listed | March 7, 1975 |
| Reference number | 75001418 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1902-03 |
| Architect / builder | Architects Elzner and Anderson; structural engineer Henry Hooper; general contractor William H. Ellis Co. |
| Architectural style | Late classical revival |
| Areas of significance | Engineering, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as occupied, in excellent condition and unaltered; the statement says it survives in active use. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 39.09533, -84.50675 (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 75001418.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14690693
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.