Lakeside Historic District
Also known as: Lakeside ("On Lake Erie")
Why it's listed
Lakeside is a resort community of about 200 acres on the shore of Lake Erie, near the tip of the Marblehead Peninsula in Ottawa County, Ohio. A fence encloses the grounds on three sides, and a grid of streets crosses terraced, tree-covered land. Roughly 850 buildings stand there, nearly 95 percent of them small frame cottages from the 1870s to the 1920s. Many are narrow Camp Meeting or Lakeside cottages with street-facing gables, sawn wooden ornament and double-decked porches, alongside Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire and Queen Anne examples. Larger buildings include the three-story Italianate Hotel Lakeside, begun in 1875, the 1929 Hoover Auditorium, and four 1920s Mission style association buildings with stucco walls and tile roofs. The community began with a church, an open-air auditorium, tents and board-and-batten cottages. Most of the original resort survives, apart from losses in fires in 1905 and 1929, and many sections keep their 19th-century appearance. That intact character as a Chautauqua-style resort underlies its listing.
Significance in brief: The visible portion of the nomination describes a largely intact Chautauqua-style resort of Camp Meeting and Lakeside cottages, with auditoriums, a hotel and 1920s Mission style association buildings. The Section 8 statement of significance is cut off, so the exact criteria and arguments are not shown. The description stresses the continuity of the 19th-century resort fabric and its use of the distinctive Camp Meeting cottage type.
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 83002020, listed March 29, 1983. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Lake Erie, RR tracks, Poplar and Oak Aves., Lakeside |
|---|---|
| County | Ottawa County |
| Listed | March 29, 1983 |
| Reference number | 83002020 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second French Empire, Queen Anne, Shingle, Colonial Revival, Bungalow, Stick Style, Mission Style and Camp Meeting (Lakeside) cottage types |
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture, Religion, Social History |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Nearly all buildings are described as continually maintained in good to excellent condition, with most original uses continuing; intrusions are about 3% of structures. |
| Acreage | 160 |
| Coordinates | 41.53914, -82.74983 (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 83002020.
- 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.