Ohio One Building

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Ohio One Building was built in 1931 by the Ohio Edison Company. The building was initially named the Ohio Edison Building, after the aforementioned company. The Ohio Edison Company was an electricity provider in Youngstown that was formed after consolidating many smaller companies into the Ohio Edison Company to serve the growing Youngstown community. The building was purchased by its current owner, the Ohio One Company, in 1975. The Ohio One Company still occupies the building today. The most notable architectural aspect of the building is the large neon sign displayed on the top of the building, which was originally commissioned by the Ohio Edison Company, and was later adopted by the Ohio One Company.

Images

The Ohio One Building

The Ohio One Building's signature neon letters.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The Ohio One Building was built in 1931, the original name for the building was the Ohio Edison Building. The Ohio Edison Building was constructed as the headquarters for the Ohio Edison Company. The Ohio Edison Company was formed in 1930 after the population of Youngstown spiked by 125,000 from 1900 to 1930. The company was a consolidation of various Youngstown electric companies that had to be combined after the aforementioned population spike.

The Ohio Edison Company occupied the building for the next 44 years. The building was then sold to its current owner, the Ohio One Company, which is where the building derives its current name. The Ohio One Company is a Youngstown based realty company that specializes in Mahoning County commercial real-estate.

The most notable part of the Ohio One Building is the large neon sign that is displayed on the top of the building. The neon sign was put up by the Ohio Edison Company when the building was first erected; it displayed the name of the company and could be switched from white to red. When the Ohio One Company acquired the building, they repurposed the sign to their company name. The Ohio One Building still stands today despite the urban renewal program that demolished many historic buildings east of Market Street.

Sources

Williams , Judy. Ohio One. Ohio Historic Inventory . Published July 11th 1986. Ohio Historic Preservation Office .

About Ohio One, https://ohioone.com. Accessed October 13th 2019. https://ohioone.com/about/.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://ohioone.com/properties/

https://money.cnn.com/gallery/real_estate/2013/11/14/affordable-housing-markets/8.html