Main Street Historic District
Local Overlay and National Historic District
Brochure on Overlay District
Type – Commercial
Location – Main Street
Boundaries – Along Main Street, roughly from Sixth Avenue south half a block past First Avenue, with some properties going toward Church and King Streets
History – The street plan of this central business district is basically a simple grid laid out in 1841. Much of the character remains since the height of its development in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. Commercial and Neo-Classical building styles, mostly of brick or stone, are seen in the typical pattern of commercial districts where buildings adjoin each other in district rows. There are fifty-five contributing structures. Designated the Main Street Local Historic Overlay District on May 3, 2007 by City Council.
Inventory Procedure
House construction dates are based upon 1912, 1922, 1926 and 1954 Sanborn maps used in the field; city directories from 1915, 1926, and 1937-1952; owner-provided information; and deeds. The 1915 and 1926 directories are not broken down by street addresses, so without checking deeds on each property it was not possible to link an owner with a specific house. Therefore, many of the houses are named for the owners of record in the directories in the late 1930s since there is a gap in the available directories from 1926 to 1937. The 1937 directory is the first time in which street addresses appear. These sources are noted with each entry.
Contributing properties must be at least fifty years of age and retain their original form. The application of artificial siding, changing of window sash, the addition of modern doors, the screening of a porch, and additions placed away from the main facade of the building are features which are allowed under this classification. Non-contributing buildings are those which are less than fifty years old, or older buildings which no longer retain their original form. This would include the placement of additions which alter the main facade, or enclosure of porches which severely alters the configuration of the entry to a building. If windows are altered through the retrofitting of a smaller window frame within the original opening, this will also make a building non-contributing.