Washington Avenue Historic District
Also known as: See Also:Garford, Arthur L., Residence
Why it's listed
Washington Avenue Historic District is a residential neighborhood in the near north side of Elyria, Ohio, where large single-family houses were built from about 1870 to about 1920. Its streets include Washington Avenue, Columbus, Harrison and Ohio, and the west-side lots border wooded Elywood Park along the Black River. The houses show Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival, Tudor Revival and Spanish Eclectic designs. Among them is the 1894 A.L. Garford House, a Shingle Style mansion designed by Arthur Oviatt and the largest house in Lorain County. The district was home to many of the town's leading citizens, including a bank president, an attorney, a coal company head and Edgar F. Allen, founder of Elyria Memorial Hospital and the International Crippled Children's Society. Of the 64 resources, 57 contribute to the district's character. Washington Avenue and Columbus Street remain strictly single-family, and the area still looks much as it did decades ago.
Significance in brief: The district holds the homes of many of Elyria's leading citizens and some of the city's largest and most elaborate houses, in styles such as Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival and Spanish Eclectic. It reflects the growth of Elyria's prestige residential neighborhood from the post-Civil War years to about 1920. It also includes the house of Edgar F. Allen, a noted humanitarian and founder of Elyria Memorial Hospital.
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 87001376, listed August 20, 1987. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly Ohio, Columbus, Harrison, and Saint Clair Sts. between Washington Ave. and Glenwood St., Elyria |
|---|---|
| County | Lorain County |
| Listed | August 20, 1987 |
| Reference number | 87001376 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1870-1920 |
| Architect / builder | Arthur Oviatt (architect of the A.L. Garford House, 1894) |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne, Italianate, Colonial Revival |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Most houses are in good condition and still used as single-family homes; some Harrison Street houses are deteriorated, have aluminum siding or have been converted to apartments. Seven of the 64 resources are noncontributing. |
| Acreage | 26 |
| Coordinates | 41.35617, -82.10377 (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 87001376.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q49576957
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.