East Main Street Historic District Walking Tour

This tour was curated by: Alliance Historical Society

A collaboration of the Alliance Area Preservation Society and the Alliance Historical Society, celebrating the history and architecture of Alliance's East Main Street National Historic District. Funded in part by a grant from the Greater Alliance Foundation.

Entries on This Tour

1. Main & Union Intersection

At the turn of the 20th century, the intersection of Main and Union underwent a transformative shift from a densely populated residential area to an extension of the main street commercial district. Notable residences included the Lamborn, Erwin, and Wallace families' homes, each owned by influential local businesspersons who operated businesses along Main Street and throughout the town. Today, remnants of a 1920s gas and service station persist at the southeast corner, while the historic mid-century modern Kroger building, originally a favorite Caskey Building demolished in 1996, remains at the northeast corner, housing various businesses.

2. Williams Building

Dating back to 1915, the Park Building emerged as a response to the post-World War I housing shortage, replacing three smaller residences on the same land. Originally constructed as apartments, it reflects early 20th-century commercial style with Moorish Revival details, featuring notable elements like elongated arch openings and a historic hipped roof projection. Meanwhile, the Williams Building at 66 E. Main Street, completed between 1916 and 1918, seamlessly integrates into the early 20th-century commercial aesthetic, housing apartments on the upper levels and hosting Casselman Plumbing, Ramsey Auto Supply, and the Alliance Restaurant on the lower level. The building's distinctive gray and white washed red brick exterior, accentuated by stone plaques bearing its namesake, contributes to its enduring charm.

3. First Christian Church

The complex features the 1910-11 Parsonage, 1957-58 Sanctuary, and 1968 Educational wing, each showcasing distinct architectural styles. The Colonial Revival Parsonage contrasts with the Neoclassical Educational wing. Stairs from East Main Street lead to a one-story entrance with metal and glass doors, concrete walls, and a cast concrete bell tower. Established in 1847, the First Christian Church in Alliance overcame challenges and grew, with a successful 1951 building fund drive leading to the demolition of the old sanctuary in 1957 and the completion of a new one in 1958. In the early 2000s, the congregation relocated, and in 2023, the building received the Alliance Preservation Award.

4. IOOF/KOP/Ellis & McDonald Building

At the westernmost corner of the block stands the International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.), constructed in 1904 and hosting various amenities including a meeting hall, apartments, barber shop, and post office. This building, made of light sand-colored brick, showcases original prismatic glass storefront transoms. Nearby, the Knights of Pythias building features a basement bowling alley and chambers on the second floor, while the Ellis and McDonald building, erected in 1906, embodies early 20th-century commercial architecture with Richardsonian Romanesque elements and once housed the Jarman Printing Company before its demolition.

5. Alliance Area Chamber of Commerce/Owl Grill/Depot

The northeast corner of E. Main Street and Mechanic Avenue was the site of the first of three depot locations on the Lake Erie, Alliance & Wheeling (LEA&W) rail line in the 1880s and 1890s. This lot later became the home of Temple of Economy, Shafer Building and the Owl Grill, and today's Alliance Area Chamber of Commerce.

6. Strand Theater

"The Strand" likely refers to a central London street known for its Victorian-era theaters, similar to New York's Broadway. Inspired by this district, Strand theaters were built across the United States, known for their opulent interiors. The Strand Theater, constructed in 1927 on the former site of the Parth Block building, features Romantic Renaissance Revival architecture, including Juliet balconies and ornate detailing. It introduced Alliance to the first "sound movies" but closed in 1960.

7. Midland Buckeye Building

The Midland Buckeye Building, constructed in the late 1950s, replaced the previous Peoples Bank and its earlier wood-frame structure, which served as the US Auction Syndicate in the late 1800s. The new building expanded over the site of the former JP Miller Saloon. Today, it stands as a downtown landmark, characterized by its metallic facade inspired by Louis Sullivan's designs, featuring chrome cladding and polished granite accents, with a large showcase window displaying mosaic tiles at the front entrance.

8. State Theater & Valis Building

Constructed in the 1920s, the Second Renaissance Revival theater building, spanning four stories, showcases exquisite craftsmanship with fire block, brick, and stone. Originally serving as a movie theater, it later transformed into Jennette's Lounge before becoming home to various restaurants by the late 1990s. The building's ground floor boasts altered storefronts and a contemporary box marquee, while its upper levels feature a stunning three-story arcade adorned with double-hung windows and crowned by a corbelled brick cornice. Situated at 259 East Main Street, it is flanked by the Valis Block, enriching the area's historical and architectural landscape.

9. Cope Furniture, Alliance Hardware, Spring-Holzwarth

The 300 and 400 blocks of E. Main Street were historically significant for their retail establishments, including Cope Furniture, Alliance Hardware, and Spring Holzwarth on the north side of the 300 block. Cope Furniture's building at 314 E. Main Street, constructed in 1906 with Chicago School details, features a modernized first floor with all the upper floor windows filled with painted corrugated panels. Alliance Hardware at 318 E. Main Street, also built in 1906, boasted Jacobethan architecture with limestone details. "Toyland" was a popular attraction during the Christmas season. The building at 320 E. Main Street replaced the original Spring-Holzwarth Department Store, lost in a 1931 fire. The fire also damaged Alliance Hardware due to limited fire equipment at the time, resulting in the removal of its original elaborate brick point.

10. Heggy's

The building at 317 E. Main Street is of the two-part commercial building style and constructed from red bricks. The building at 317 was built in 1910 and was originally home to the Surprise Store, a confectionery, and Jarman's Printing on the second floor. Later, it was home to Heggy's and then Alliance Antiques. It is now empty, but a mural of "Camelot" is painted on the west exterior overlooking the neighboring pocket park. The Wallace Building at 321 E. Main Street is now occupied by the Crystal Inn. It is a two-part commercial building and Italianate in style, made with red rock faced brick with stone accent work.The original occupant was a grocery store owned by Alva D. Wallace.

11. Jupiter

The Jupiter building at 346 E. Main Street was built in 1925. The S. S. Kresge Company purchased the site and constructed the Neoclassical style building for $150,000. The Kresge store remained at this location into the 1980s. Of note is the construction materials of light and blond brick. After Kresge's closed, Jupiter Department Store was located here. In 2008, Richie Kindler renovated the first floor space to open Jupiter Studios, a music performance space, a gallery featuring the work of local artists, and food and drinks from the added kitchen. The current owner, Jay Groom, has converted the venue into a Greek mythology themed Jupiter Events Center.

12. McCrory's Department Store

McCrory's 5 and 10 Cent store, located at 358 E. Main Street on the northwest corner of Linden Avenue and Main Street, was constructed in the Neoclassical Two-Part Commercial style between 1925-1926, likely by McCrory Stores' New York corporate architect, William Simpson. The two-story brick and terra cotta building features contemporary metal and glass storefronts with roll-up awnings, a wide signboard, and a carved stringcourse of egg and dart/running dog detailing on the east side. Originally housing the Trianon Ball Room on its second floor, it was later purchased by Murphy's 5 and 10 store and operated until the 1980s. Today it serves as the location for Mac's Attic Flea Market, showcasing a distinctive stairway leading into the basement sales area upon entry.

13. Lindesmith Building

The Wm. S. Lindesmith building at 355 E. Main Street is a two-part commercial building constructed in 1910. It was the home of Lindesmith Hardware through the 1950s. In recent years, it was home to Paris Art Studio and antique shop and most recently Celebration Destination party store. Some of the notable architectural features include recessed brick panels between the floors and at the top of the building and a distinct signboard with "Wm. S. Lindesmith" added and an arched parapet at the top with "1910" added.

14. Lamborn Building

The Lamborn building at 426 E. Main Street is a Tudor Revival Two-Part Commercial building, built in 1925. The deepest of all the storefronts on E. Main Street, it consists of a main building facing Main Street and an annex attached to the rear of the main building that faces Prospect Street. It is finished in yellow terra cotta. The one-story building to the east was added on or connected to the main building by 1954 and is adjacent to Prohibition Alley. The 3-D mural was painted onto the building in 2023 and depicts the double meaning of "railroads" in Alliance: the Underground Railroad and the actual railroads that created Alliance.

15. Koch Building

Located on the east side of Prohibition Alley at 436 E. Main Street, the Koch Building was built in approximately 1910 in the Neoclassical Two-Part Commercial style. The building is constructed with blond bricks and was designed by Cleveland and Massillon architects Albrecht, Wilhelm & Kelly. A contemporary signboard with "SEARS" was added when the Sears Roebuck Company moved into the building in 1961. The Sears store remained here until 1978 when it moved to the College Plaza. The name "KOCH" is engraved on the projecting cornice and raised parapet. The exterior wall on the east side of the building is referred to as a brick party wall. At one time it separated the Koch building from the adjoining building. Now it serves as an exterior wall facing the pocket park to the east.

16. First National Bank Building

The 1914 Renaissance Revival six-story bank building was designed by Canton architect Lewis W. Thomas and constructed by Cleveland builder George B. McMillan Co. A 1923 three-story wing to the rear was designed by Cleveland architects Walker & Weeks. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

17. City Administration Building & 1887 Building

The 1887 Building, also known as the Stone Block, is a Richardsonian Romanesque Two-Part Commercial four-story building is composed of rock faced ashlar sandstone, built in 1887. It is arguably Downtown Alliance’s most precious, and most underappreciated, architectural gem. It has hosted a broad spectrum of tenants through its 130-plus years. In the mid-60s it was home to Seikel Paint & Wallpaper and Band-Orch, but in recent decades hosted several, and has now been acquired by the City of Alliance for additional office space.The City Administration Building was acquired by the City in 1994 after the closure of Bank One’s Downtown Alliance office, along with the 1915-16 Alliance Bank Building. The Administration Building was a 1971 renovation of two circa mid-1870s structures into a combined modern office space in the New Formalism Style. The best remembered historic tenants of these buildings were the Vale Drug Store and the C. C. Crawford/Crawford’s clothing store

18. Opera House

The Alliance Opera House (also known as the Crew opera House and the Marchand Opera House) stood on this site from 1868 until 1886. It is best remembered for its ignominious collapse, but was also the most important gathering place in Alliance during its two decades of operation. It was the venue for famous performers and touring companies of the post-Civil War era, hosted community and political events, and was the site of desperate meetings to keep the peace in Alliance during America’s Great Railroad Strike of 1877. It also housed prominent businesses, including that of its illustrious builder at the center of early Alliance’s bustling business district.

19. MLK, Jr. Viaduct

What was once known only as "The Viaduct," and often in a derogatory tone, is now the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Viaduct, and a commemoration of his work to bring people together with the words "I Have a Dream" emblazoned over the center of Main Street. And while the viaduct now calls out for that dream, the structure itself has a heritage that includes a dream fulfilled, a nightmare event, and a murky haze of decline that hung over it for several decades in the mid-20th century. With it's replacement 40+ years ago, and its reimagining as one of the largest historical markers anywhere, it fills a new role as a sign of hope for our future.

20. Lincoln Marker & The Crossing

On February 15, 1861, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States stopped briefly on his way to Washington for his inauguration to eat at the original Sourbeck House and briefly speak to the townspeople. This marker was built from stones from the Lincoln family farm in Kentucky and placed near the spot where Lincoln spoke.This railroad crossing was one of the first to be constructed in northeast Ohio, and it created the first railroad connection between Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Cincinnati. From the early 1850s through the First World War, Alliance’s railroad stations were both a gateway to the world and the world’s first glimpse of this bustling Ohio community. There are currently two stations still standing here: the mid-century brick structure nearest to the crossing served for passengers and freight service from 1953 until 2011, and further east is a modest, unstaffed, contemporary Amtrak stop which serves as the only passenger train stop between Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

21. Chase House

The Chase House with Pluchel's Lunch Rooms was located at the corner of East Main Street and Webb Avenue. If the Union Depot and The Crossing were Alliance’s Gateway to the World, then the Chase House and the surrounding businesses were the world’s gateway to Alliance. The Chase House maintained one of the longest tenures in the block between The Crossing/Webb Avenue and Liberty Avenue—thru seven decades—largely run by a German immigrant family who became well-regarded members of the Alliance community. Businesses on the block were focused on hospitality, recreational interests, and the immediate needs of the newly mobile local and American public.

22. Orr Block & Bureau of Motor Vehicles

The present Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles office was originally built in the International Style as the Industrial Savings and Loan in 1959, and was previously the site of Allot’s Hardware store and its predecessors for over a century. In the center of the eastern half-block sat the site of one of Alliance’s greatest tragedies—The Orr BlockFebruary 1, 1884 was a typical Friday afternoon at Frank Orr’s hardware store with only a few customers shopping, and Frank’s daughter and grandson, who lived upstairs on the second floor, down to visit. Completed in the fall of 1883, the Orr Block was considered a fine addition to the modern buildings being added to the once again prosperous town of Alliance. Noted in the newspaper reports of the day, there were about seven or eight people shopping at the grocery store on the west side of Orr’s and a few people were working in the Miller dry goods store on the east at a minute or two before 4 o’clock. A massive explosion engulfed and collapsed the Orr Block and rocked the entire community.

23. City Savings Bank

The 1925-26 Neoclassical eight-story bank building was designed by Columbus, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia architects Simons, Brittain and English. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an excellent example of bank hall and office tower architecture in the Neoclassical style defined on the exterior by its tripartite design, symmetry and composition of varying materials.

24. Public Square/Freedom Plaza

Alliance Public Square was historically located at the intersection of East Main Street and Freedom Avenue. The Public Square was redesigned as Freedom Plaza in 1976 by architects Bergemann and Associates.42 The memorial park is landscaped with flowering trees, grass lawn, simple plantings, and hardscape made up of brick pathways, low concrete walls, park benches and lighted flagpole. The Plaza includes memorials to lost soldiers and members of the police department.

25. City Hall & Courthouse

The building inscribed as "City Hall" at 470 E. Market Street is now the Alliance Municipal Courthouse. It is a Neoclassical style building designed by Canton architect Lewis W. Thomas and constructed by the George B. McMillan Company of Cleveland. Originally, the front of the building faced Public Square, now known as Freedom Plaza. Entry to the building is now through the walkway connected to the 2003 Freedom Center. The design contains raised brick courses, a central segmental arch with keystone, and fluted stone columns. Bronze tablets flank the doorway to Freedom Plaza and give a concise history of the early founders of the region.

26. Firehouse Theater

Firehouse Theater at 450 E. Market Street is a prime example of a reuse of a historic structure. The Romanesque Revival 1905 Fire House Station #1 is constructed of red brick with sandstone details. The arched doorways with keystones were the doors for the horses and wagons to come and go. Later, the horses were replaced by motorized firetrucks. A carved stone plaque engraved "Fire Department" is mounted on the projecting square tower on the southwest corner of the building. The central fire station relocated to East Broadway Street in 1975. The building was converted to the Firehouse Theater in 1979 and became the home of Carnation City Players, Alliance's community theater group. It was named an Alliance Local Landmark in 2014.

27. First Presbyterian Church

The Presbyterian Church in Alliance was organized in 1854, and had its first building on E. Prospect Street in 1858 and a second in 1893. The First Presbyterian Church Building at 405 E. Market Street, is a complex made up of the 1904 church building, a 1950 addition, and the 1965 education wing. The church is a Late Gothic Revival style brick building, designed by the Cleveland architects Searles & Hirsh, who also designed Glamorgan Castle and the Transue House. It features a cross-gabled plan with large Gothic style stained glass windows. Three of the large central windows were incorporated into the Church's new building when the congregation relocated to Beech Street. The spaces where these windows had been are now plain glass.

28. Post Office & Minit-Park

The cornerstone laying ceremony for the new Alliance Post Office building on the northeast corner of Arch Avenue and East Market Street, took place on November 12, 1916. The ceremony was led by Conrad Lodge 271 of the Free and Accepted Masons who laid the cornerstone and music was provided by the Alliance City Band. The Neoclassical style building, made of sandstone with limestone details, was designed by James A. Wetmore, Acting Architectural Supervisor for the U.S. Treasury Department. It opened for business December 1, 1918, and has been in continuous use as Alliance's central post office ever since. The historic building underwent a "facelift" from 2013-2015, including removal of the exterior sandstone at the top of the building and then replacement of the damaged sandstone with new stone to maintain the building's historic integrity. A sample block from the removed damaged portion lies on the ground by the exterior mailbox.The parking lot behind the post office on E. Market Street was the site of the former Minit-Park, an automated parking garage designed and built by Alliance Machine.

29. YWCA

Historically known as the Craven House, the YWCA was built in the 1880s as a residence. The home served as a private residence until the 1920s, when it was transformed into the YWCA. Remarkably, the building has retained much of its original character, except for the tower, which has an altered roof, and the gathering hall addition built in the 1940s.This building is a quintessential example of Second Empire style. Originating from the French Empire, the Second Empire style is characterized by its elaborate ornamentation, towers, decorative stonework, large windows, and mansard roofs. Today, the YWCA building stands as one of the last historic mansions on Market Street, a street that was once lined with many such homes belonging to families who contributed significantly to the growth of our downtown center.

30. Main Street Caboose

This was the location of the one-story passenger depot and freight office for the Lake Erie, Alliance & Wheeling Railroad, in service from 1911 to the 1960s. By 1947 the building was used for storage and sales, and it housed the Alliance Cycle Shop in the 1960s. This location is now home to a restored caboose, which is used for community events and concerts.

31. Hillgreen, Lane & Company

This building on the north side of Market Street between Park Avenue and Mechanic Avenue was home to Hillgreen, Lane & Company from 1900 to 1972. It was built about 1893 for an agricultural implement company, and was later occupied by the Alliance Pants Company. After a fire at the pants company, the building was repaired and Hillgreen, Lane & Company moved in. The company was founded by founded in 1898 by Alfred Hillgreen and Charles Alva Lane. They continued to build pipe organs until it closed in 1972. The building then served as the home of Electronic Circuits & Design until 1986.

32. Raymond Block

The Raymond Block, located at the easternmost edge of four commercial buildings at the city block of of Main Street, Union and Park Avenue, was built in the early 1910s as an apartment complex with four commercial storefronts on the ground floor. These types of apartment buildings, common on Main Street, often feature porches or balconies, and the Raymond Block still shows shadow outlines where these structures were once attached. In the early 20th century, a movement to improve urban living conditions led to a greater focus on air circulation in apartments, prompting the inclusion of features like porches and balconies. Adjacent to the Raymond Block is a commercial building that hides an Italianate-style mansion, originally a family residence, which later became a boarding house; its facade, added in the 1920s, illustrates the evolving trends and needs in urban architecture.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

East Main Street Historic District Walking Tour

Created by Alliance Historical Society on December 19th 2023, 8:44:44 pm.

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Description

The East Main Street National Historic District is situated along the main historic commercial corridor in Downtown Alliance, Ohio. The district follows East Main Street from Liberty to Union, the north boundary is defined by the railroad line and Prospect Street, and the south boundary is defined by Market Street. Sixty-five contributing buildings and 13 non-contributing buildings, along with 3 contributing statues in Freedom Plaza make up the district. This tour outlines 34 stops along East Main Street and East Market Street that are significant to the architecture or history of Alliance’s downtown. Watch the Marking Time in Alliance episode for an overview of the District - https://youtu.be/wrmV1Hnz63c?si=mI-1gakmDY2tQIaZ Street signs provided by a grant from Greater Alliance Foundation.

Entries on This Tour

East Main Street Historic District Walking Tour

Description

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