Hercules Motors Corporation Industrial Complex
Also known as: C. Aultman & Co.; White Engines Inc.
Why it's listed
This 23-acre industrial complex lies about a mile south of downtown Canton, Ohio, and holds 35 buildings and 8 structures built between about 1855 and 1964. The oldest buildings were put up by C. Aultman & Co., a maker of threshers and engines, and include a three-story balloon frame and masonry storage building, a carpenter shop and paint shops. Later occupants included a papier-mache figure maker and an ice machine company. Hercules Motors Corporation built Building 1, a machine shop, in 1916 as its first structure on the site, then added assembly, testing, machine shop and office buildings through the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Firestone and Motter, local architects, designed the 1940s buildings. The later buildings use reinforced concrete, brick and steel industrial windows, with flat roofs and monitors. A 148-foot brick stack once lettered HERCULES marks the boiler house. The site is recognized as a layered record of how industrial architecture changed over roughly a century.
Significance in brief: The complex began with C. Aultman & Co., maker of threshers and engines, and later housed other manufacturers before Hercules Motors Corporation built its engine plant there from 1916. It shows the evolution of industrial architecture from 19th-century balloon frame and masonry buildings to 20th-century steel and concrete construction. The criteria and exact period of significance are not legible in the provided text.
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 05000575, listed June 10, 2005. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 101 11th St. SE, Canton |
|---|---|
| County | Stark County |
| Listed | June 10, 2005 |
| Reference number | 05000575 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | C. Aultman & Co. (circa 1855 buildings); Firestone and Motter, Stark County architects (1940s buildings and Building 25); Hercules Motors Corporation |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals; Late Victorian |
| Areas of significance | Engineering, Industry, Transportation |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Most recent use of the buildings was industrial storage; the boiler system was replaced by a modern electrical substation after the period of significance. Several 19th-century buildings retain a high level of integrity. |
| Acreage | 23 |
| Coordinates | 40.79102, -81.37624 (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 05000575.
- 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.