Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company Housing
Why it's listed
On a hillside above the Mahoning River Valley and the Briar Hill steel mill, a village of 281 two-story concrete houses was built between 1917 and 1920 for Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company workers. The houses stand in units of two to five, arranged in hollow squares with trees, playgrounds and garden spaces across about nine acres. Walls and floors were cast as precast slabs in a nearby yard, then lifted into place by a patented derrick, with only the gables and roofs framed in wood. St. Louis architects Herding and Boyd designed the project, and the Unit Construction Company built it. The site's slope led to stepped floor levels between adjoining units. The company created the community after the 1916 worker riots and set aside $250,000 for construction. Described as the first major American attempt to apply unit concrete construction to large-scale housing, it drew coverage in Engineering News-Record. A southern section was demolished in 1976, and many remaining houses are privately owned.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is an early and innovative large-scale use of concrete for housing, with distinctive precast slab construction methods. It was described as the first major U.S. effort to adapt the unit method of concrete construction to a large housing project. The stepped design responded to the uneven site and relieved the monotony of a single building material.
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 82003611, listed June 1, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Jackson and Chambers St., Campbell |
|---|---|
| County | Mahoning County |
| Listed | June 1, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82003611 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1917-1920 |
| Architect / builder | Herding & Boyd, St. Louis (architects); Unit Construction Company, St. Louis (builder) |
| Areas of significance | Landscape Architecture, Engineering |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Much of the project still stands in varying degrees of preservation; a southern portion that became derelict was demolished by the city in 1976. Many units have been purchased and personalized by resident owners. |
| Acreage | 10 |
| Coordinates | 41.06895, -80.58601 (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 82003611.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.