Boston Mills Historic District
Also known as: See Also:Ohio and Erie Canal
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Why it's listed
Boston Mills is a small village in the Cuyahoga Valley, Summit County, Ohio, between the Cuyahoga River and the historic Ohio and Erie Canal. The district includes 31 contributing resources, among them houses, barns, a school, a general store built in 1905, a village cemetery, corn cribs, a bridge and the ruin of canal Lock 32, dating to 1827. Most buildings are one-and-a-half or two-story frame structures with gable roofs, and a few are molded concrete block. Most are vernacular, with occasional Federal or Greek Revival details, as in an Upright-and-Wing house from 1835. The village grew first as a canal town, with mills using the waterway for power and shipping. It grew again between 1900 and 1923 as a company town around the Akron and Cleveland Akron Bag Company, which drew Polish immigrant workers. The 1913 flood washed away Water Street and its company houses. The district was listed for community planning and development and for architecture, with a period of significance of 1827 to 1927.
Significance in brief: The district is nominated under Criterion A for community planning and development, because its growth followed the Ohio and Erie Canal and later the Cleveland Akron Bag Company. It is also nominated under Criterion C for its architecture, which is mostly vernacular with some Greek Revival examples. Its buildings show the canal town and company town phases of development.
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 92001490, listed November 9, 1992. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly, Riverview, Boston Mills and Stanford Rds. and Main St., Boston Mills |
|---|---|
| County | Summit County |
| Listed | November 9, 1992 |
| Reference number | 92001490 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1827 - 1927 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival; Upright and Wing; Gabled Ell; Homestead House |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Current uses are domestic, mainly single dwellings and secondary structures. The canal lock is a ruin. |
| Acreage | 37 |
| Coordinates | 41.26334, -81.55831 (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 92001490.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4947992
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.