Franklin Hotel
Also known as: Hotel Kent, Hotel Kent-Ellis
Why it's listed
Standing at the crest of a hill on East Main Street in downtown Kent, Ohio, this five-story hotel was built in 1920 of reinforced concrete faced with textured red brick and stone trim. H.L. Stevens & Company, a Chicago and New York firm specializing in hotels, designed it in the Neo-Classical Revival style, with arched openings, marble keystones, rosette details and a pressed metal cornice. The Kent Hotel Company, organized through the local Board of Trade and backed by more than 200 citizens, raised the capital after businessmen saw the need for a modern hotel on the busy route between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Costing about $250,000, it offered 50 rooms, a dining room, coffee shop and assembly room, and it remained the town's only hotel until 1956. Its period of significance runs from 1920 to 1962. Today the building is vacant and the interior is badly deteriorated, but the exterior still shows its original classical character.
Significance in brief: The hotel is nominated under Criterion A for Community Planning and Development and for Social History. Kent businessmen and a Board of Trade formed the Kent Hotel Company to build a modern hotel for the growing town on the Cleveland-Pittsburgh highway. It was the town's only hotel until 1956 and served as a hub of community and social life.
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 12000802, listed January 18, 2013. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 176 E. Main St., Kent |
|---|---|
| County | Portage County |
| Listed | January 18, 2013 |
| Reference number | 12000802 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1920-1962 |
| Architect / builder | Stevens, H. L. & Co. |
| Architectural style | Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals/Neo-Classical Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Social History, Community Planning and Development |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Currently vacant; the interior has been largely gutted and stripped of finishes, and the windows have been removed, stored and the openings boarded up, though the exterior retains its Neo-Classical detailing. |
| Acreage | 0.3 |
| Coordinates | 41.15360, -81.35667 (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.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
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 12000802.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q15218401
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.