Description: Caption reads: "Cuyahoga County Criminal Court Building, July 1936. Cleveland, Ohio." The Cuyahoga County Criminal Courts Building was located at 1560 East Twenty-First (21st) Street, next to the Cleveland Police Department. The steel and concrete building was designed by Warner and Mitchell in the Art Deco style. The 13-story cut-back tower has a sandstone façade, while the remainder of the building is surfaced with light-colored brick. The Art Deco style was carried throughout the building’s interior and some of the light fixtures are on display at the Western Reserve Historical Society. The tower appears four-sided from the exterior, but within becomes an octagon, with a 3-story rotunda topped with a remarkable octagonal light which could be raised and lowered. Completed in 1931, the building housed courtrooms, offices for county officials and a 350 person jail, which was considered one of the most modern jail in the United States when it was built. With the construction of the new Criminal Courts Building in 1977, the building fell into disrepair. Attempts to repurpose the building for other county and local functions eventually failed and the building was demolished (sometime between 2008 and 2010) and is now the site of a large parking lot. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F09_02_01
Subjects: Cleveland (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; County courts--Ohio; Art deco (Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works.)--United States; Demolished buildings; Western Reserve Historical Society--Archives
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Civic Center: State Office Building and AIU Citadel as seen from the west bank of the Scioto River, Columbus, Ohio. The American Insurance Union Citadel (left), now known as the LeVeque Tower, was dedicated on September 21, 1927. The 47-story tall skyscraper located at 50 West Broad Street, was designed by architect C. Howard Crane in the Art Deco style. Due to the Great Depression the American Insurance Union went bankrupt, and sold the building. The tower was purchased by John Lincoln and Leslie L. LeVeque in 1945. The Ohio State Office Building (right) was constructed during 1930-1933. The 14-story building was designed by Cincinnati architect Harry Hake and serves as a classic example of the Modernistic style. The building was later known as the Ohio Judicial Center until 2011, when the state Supreme Court named the center in honor of the late Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who was the second-longest chief justice in state history at the time of his death in April 2010. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05673
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government; Architecture--Ohio; Modernist; Art Deco
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows the Main Library building in Toledo, Ohio, located at 325 Michigan Street. Designed by the architectural firm Hahn & Hayes, the Art Deco structure opened in 1940, and its $2 million cost was financed largely by the Works Progress Administration. This building replaced the city's original main library, located at Madison Avenue and Ontario Street, which opened in 1890. That structure was razed in 1940, shortly after the new main library opened. Toledo's public library system has its roots in subscription libraries that charged an annual fee to its members. The Young Men's Association organized the city's first such library in 1838. The nationwide public library movement began during the 1870s, and in 1873 the Toledo city council authorized the purchase of two subscription library collections. This step marked the beginning of the Toledo Public Library. The original main library was Toledo’s only public library until 1917, when Carnegie Foundation financed the construction of branch libraries. By the 1930s, space in the main library was at a premium; within the space of a decade, a new facility became a reality. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06168
Subjects: Architecture--Ohio; Toledo (Ohio); Libraries--Ohio--History; Art Deco
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows the main corridor of the State Office Building, Columbus, Ohio, ca. 1935. Also called the "Hall of Fame," the marble-clad corridor features the streamlined fluted columns and panels common to Art Deco design. Construction of the building began in 1930 and was completed in 1933. The 14-story, white marble structure was designed by Cincinnati architect Harry Hake (1871-1955) and serves as a classic example of the Art Moderne style. The interior of the building includes public spaces decorated with murals, mosaics and bas-reliefs that illustrate the history of Ohio and its industries. The building was later known as the Ohio Judicial Center until 2011, when the state Supreme Court named the center in honor of the late Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who was the second-longest-serving chief justice in state history at the time of his death in April 2010. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05706
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government; Columbus (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Modernist; Art Deco; Architecture--Ohio;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph of the Civic Center area in Columbus, Ohio, shows the LeVeque Tower (left), the State Office Building (right), and the Ohio Statehouse in the background. The term "Civic Center" refers to the cluster of government and public buildings that hug the Scioto River's east bank. The American Insurance Union Citadel, now known as the LeVeque Tower, was dedicated on September 21, 1927. The building, which is located at 50 West Broad Street, was designed by architect C. Howard Crane in the Art Deco style. The 47-story tall skyscraper, designed mainly as office space, rises to an elevation of 555.5 feet, and was built to be 6 inches taller than the Washington Monument. Due to the Great Depression, the American Insurance Union went bankrupt and sold the building. The tower was purchased by John Lincoln and Leslie L. LeVeque in 1945. Construction of the Ohio State Office Building began in 1930 and was completed in 1933. The 14-story building was designed by Cincinnati architect Harry Hake and serves as a classic example of the Art Moderne movement. The building was later known as the Ohio Judicial Center until 2011, when the state Supreme Court named the center in honor of the late Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who was the second-longest-serving chief justice in state history at the time of his death in April 2010. The Ohio Statehouse is the seat of Ohio’s government. Construction of Ohio’s current statehouse began in 1839 and was completed in 1861. Prison inmates provided much of the construction labor. The Statehouse is typical of Greek Revival architecture, which Ohioans selected because of its democratic symbolism. This structure replaced an early statehouse, built in 1816 and burned in 1852. The new statehouse had fifty-three rooms, but over the years the number of rooms grew to 317. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Statehouse was restored, and 225 rooms were eliminated. Today the Statehouse principally houses the Ohio General Assembly, although several state officials, including the governor, have ceremonial offices in the building. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05711
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government; Columbus (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Architecture; Art Deco; Architecture--Ohio--Columbus--History--20th century; Ohio Statehouse (Columbus, Ohio); Public buildings--Ohio--Columbus; Architecture--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows an exterior view of the Union Terminal, Cincinnati, Ohio, ca. 1935-1943. Cars are parked in front of the terminal and along the approach to the building. New York architectural firm Fellheimer and Wagner was in charge of its design. The firm’s designer, Roland Wank, and Paul Cret, an architectural consultant from Philadelphia, transformed the terminal’s original Classical design into an acclaimed Art Deco masterpiece. The rotunda of the terminal’s distinctive semi-dome is 180 feet wide and 106 feet high, making it second only to the half-dome of Australia’s Sydney Opera House in size. Two massive bas-relief sculptures representing Transportation (south side) and Commerce (north side) were carved by sculptor Maxfield Keck. Creations by visual artists Reinhold Weiss, Pierre Bourdelle, and William Hentschel decorated the terminal’s rotunda, concourse, and public rooms. Although planning discussions for a new terminal begin in the 1900s, the project was delayed by floods, World War I, and inter-railroad squabbles. Union Terminal was dedicated on March 31, 1933. The building ended its role as a railroad terminal in 1972; however, the city purchased the building in 1975 to ensure that it would be preserved. After experimenting with various options, the city and local organizations gave the historic building a new life as the Cincinnati Museum Center, which is home to several museums and other attractions, in 1990. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06191
Subjects: Railroads--Buildings and structures; Art Deco; Architecture--Ohio--Cincinnati--Pictorial works; Cincinnati (Ohio); Trains
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated June 11, 1937, this photograph shows the Carew Tower, looking east on Fifth Street, in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of the tallest buildings in the city, standing at 49 stories at the corner of Vine and West Fifth Streets. The Art Deco style Netherland complex, which included the Netherland Plaza Hotel, the Carew Office Tower, and the Emery Arcade, was designed by architect Walter W. Ahlschlager with contributions from William Delano. The ground level shopping arcade, which served as the main lobby of the complex, spanned the distance of a city block, connecting to the offices on one end and the hotel on the other. Conceived by civic leader John J. Emery, Jr. to revive the downtown area as a city center, the complex took the place of an Emery hotel, an Emery shopping arcade, and a popular department store. The structure was constructed and decorated in a little over a year, and completed in 1931 during the Great Depression. The complex was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1994. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F13_007_1
Subjects: Architecture; Downtowns; Skyscrapers; Cincinnati (Ohio); Art Deco
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows the Museum of Science building at the Toledo Zoo, Toledo, Ohio. The photograph was taken on November 1, 1937. A group of women and children are standing in front of the building's entrance. Since its dedication in 1936, the Museum of Science has functioned as an educational center within the zoo. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed several buildings at the zoo between 1934-1937. They include the museum, aquarium, reptile house, amphitheater, and aviary. The buildings mostly incorporated materials from demolished structures in the area: stone, brick, wood, timber, and copper. The Art Deco architecture shows Spanish and Moorish influence through such details as tiled roof, arches, and decorative elements. All of the WPA buildings, including the amphitheater, are still in use. The Toledo Zoo was founded in 1900. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06202
Subjects: Science and Technology; Zoos; Museums; Toledo (Ohio); Education; Art Deco
Places: Toledo (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image shows the side facade of the Erie County Courthouse. The original courthouse was completed in 1874 in the Second Empire style with a mansard roof and imposing corner towers. During the 1930s funds from the Works Progress Administration funds were used to remodel the courthouse into the popular Art Deco style of the time. The mansard roof and ornamentation were removed in favor of the smooth limestone facade it presently has. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F02_129
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; arches; clock towers; Second Empire; Art Deco
Places: Sandusky (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio); 323 Columbus Ave.
 

Description: This image shows the front facade of the Erie County Courthouse. The original courthouse was completed in 1874 in the Second Empire style with a mansard roof and imposing corner towers. During the 1930s funds from the Works Progress Administration funds were used to remodel the courthouse into the popular Art Deco style of the time. The mansard roof and ornamentation were removed in favor of the smooth limestone facade it presently has. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F02_128
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; arches; clock towers; Second Empire; Art Deco
Places: Sandusky (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio); 323 Columbus Ave.
 

Description: This image shows the windows on the front facade of the Erie County Courthouse. The original courthouse was completed in 1874 in the Second Empire style with a mansard roof and imposing corner towers. During the 1930s funds from the Works Progress Administration funds were used to remodel the courthouse into the popular Art Deco style of the time. The mansard roof and ornamentation were removed in favor of the smooth limestone facade it presently has. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV101_B01F02_130
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio; arches; clock towers; Second Empire; Art Deco
Places: Sandusky (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio); 323 Columbus Ave.
 

Description: This photograph shows the interior of an entrance to the State Office Building (now the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center), Columbus, Ohio. The marble walls and doorway frame a pair of doors in the background. Clearly visible are fluted columns and bas-relief sculptures, characteristic elements of the Art Deco architectural style. Construction of this landmark building began in 1930 and was completed in 1933. The 14-story, white marble structure was designed by Cincinnati architect Harry Hake and serves as a classic example of the Art Moderne style. The interior of the building includes public spaces decorated with murals, mosaics and bas-reliefs that tell the history of Ohio and its industries. The building was later known as the Ohio Judicial Center until 2011, when the state Supreme Court named the center in honor of the late Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who was the second-longest-serving chief justice in state history at the time of his death in April 2010. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05741
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government; Ohio Judicial Center (Columbus); Architecture--Ohio; Columbus (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Art Deco; Doors & doorways
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)