Newest old kid on the block: Uptown Historic District
There’s a new old player on the Westerville historical landscape: The entire Uptown District—the community’s historic business district along State Street —has been added to the National Register of Historic Places
The National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, approved the Uptown Westerville Historic District addition to the National Register on June 17, 2019.
Not every one of the Uptown buildings has history directly related to the Prohibition movement, but several do. And of course, nearly every commercial building in operation in the city between 1909 and 1933—from when the AntiSaloon League of America moved to Westerville until passage of the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition—has some connection to the League and its American Issue Publishing Co. A century ago, the League employed about 10 percent of the community’s residents, was its largest consumer of electricity and water, its largest telegraph and telephone user, and heavily influenced firstclass postal and transportation services coming to the village. It also certainly impacted the city government: The League was its second biggest local tax contributor from 1909 to 1929, training only Otterbein College.
The Uptown Historic District encompasses 67 buildings built over 24.5 acres, extending along north and south along the spine of State Street, from roughly Home Street on the north to Walnut Street on the south, and east-west spurs of a few blocks long along College Avenue and Main Street. Fifty-seven of the buildings are considered as “contributing” to the district’s historical significance, with 10 “noncontributing” due to alterations or construction within the last 50 years, said Bassem Bitar, Planning Manager for the city of Westerville.
Interestingly, the former Anti-Saloon League headquarters at 110 S. State is one of the “noncontributing” buildings, even though it was built in 1852. Though it’s clearly visible as part of what now is the Westerville Public Library complex, the old ASL building has been “overwhelmed” by the library expansions and renovations of 1981, 1998 and 2005, according to the National Register application.
related historical sites
City’s story in brick and stone
“The Uptown Westerville Historic District is an intact collection of buildings and streetscapes that illustrate the development of a late 19th and early 20th century business district and civic center in central Ohio as it evolved to support a self-contained community of residents, college students, and visitors over a period of 117 years,” from 1852 to 1969, says the National Register application.
“The predominant building type in the district is the late 19th and early 20th century brick or block commercial building, whether built to house retail shops, offices, bakeries, banks, theaters, or auto-related uses.
“Architecturally, the Italianate style is most heavily represented, with excellent examples of the style from the 1870s and 1880s. Queen Anne is also in evidence.” Several civic buildings including City Hall, the old post office, two schools and the Masonic Temple also “provide a range of influences that include Colonial Revival, Neoclassical Revival, Art Deco, and Ecclesiastical Mid-Century Modern” architectural styles.
“Finally, the Uptown Historic District exhibits a strong feeling and association as the historic center of Westerville, capable of telling the story of the community’s development over time as it grew from an isolated small town into a self-contained suburban city by the end of the 1960s,” according to the Register application.
Integrity safeguards
Uptown has been closely watched over since the city established its Uptown Review Board in 1973. And a 1993 architectural review of buildings in the district by Judith B. Williams, a Columbus historic preservation consultant, provided a detailed history on each of the buildings. Bitar said Williams also assisted with the National Register application.
The effort to put Uptown on the Register grew from the Uptown Plan adopted by the city in 2014. The massive planning document—assembled with dozens of hours of meetings, surveys and studies of residents and business owners—aims to guide future growth, investment, development, and preservation efforts in Uptown.
The city already offers a grant program to help Uptown businesses fund façade improvements. Westerville will match up to $30,000 from a business for approved improvements. Now, with the National Register designation, businesses in the district also are eligible for significant tax breaks on major projects that maintain historic integrity.
WESTERVILLE: THE WAR MACHINE OF PROHIBITION | SITES - UPTOWN WESTERVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT
WESTERVILLE: THE WAR MACHINE OF PROHIBITION | SITES - UPTOWN WESTERVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT
