Geographical Data (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet.) - See continuation sheet 11. Form Prepared By Ted Sande, AIA, Historic Preservation Consultant Ted Sande, AIA - date 13415 Shaker Boulevard street & number telephone _ _ state Ohio Submit the following items with the completed form: A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. (Complete this item at the request of SHPO or FPO.) James A. Haviland, Executive Director, Lassi Enterprises, L.L.C. . zip code a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form.
Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to theChief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O.Box37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of 44103 216-391-5080 216-561-3689 Zone Easting name Northing Additional items Additional Documentation Maps Photographs Continuation Sheets Boundary Justification Cleveland Property Owner Verbal Boundary Description historically associated with the garment factory. organization UTM References Acreage of Property The nominated property includes the entire parcel 1.16 acres 9 November 2002 Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement:This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate name/title (Describe the boundaries of the property ona continuation sheet.)Permanent Parcel No.:118-04-034 4019 Prospect Ave., Suite 200 Ohio Cuyahoga, ohio County and State (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items) city or town _ zip code 44120 Estimated Burden Statement:Public reportingburden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including time for reviewing (Explain why the boundarieswere selected ona continuation sheet.) 4519,41875 National Park Service The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Narrative Description The N. J.
Rich and Company Building is located on the west side of East 61 Street between Euclid Avenue, to the south, and Chester Avenue, to the north, in the Midtown structures are not part of this nomination. The terrain is flat. This section of the city was once densely industrial. However, during the past forty years it has declined significantly as residents, business and industry have moved from the central city to the surrounding suburbs. Factory buildings and small, wood frame houses that once existed shoulder to shoulder have been demolished and there are now vacant lots where they once stood, notably on the present vast expanse to the west of this site. Older low-rise, two and three Street. To the south is a vacant lot between this site and Euclid Avenue. The N. J. Rich and Company Building is a rectangular redbrick, flat-roof structure.
It has a unique reinforced concrete structural system, which is discussed in the Statement of width (east/west). There is a full basement; one-half level below grade, and three floors above, rising to approximately 50 feet above grade to the top of the parapet wall. The overall condition of the property is fair on the exterior and good on the interior. (See The building stands on a reinforced concrete foundation, with redbrick masonry walls center, defined by redbrick piers. Where stairwells and toilet rooms occur, the bays are above. Most of these windows have been replaced by, first, steel sash on all four walls of the third floor in 1938-39, and second, by Cal wall translucent panels on most of the first and second floors in the 1960s and 1970s. The north half of the first floor, east wall, still located at the southeast corner of the east wall.
A simple canopy over the door originally identified the main entrance at the corner bay. A concrete finish was applied to the two southeast bays at the first floor level and two pairs of doors were installed to give the Description Summary Continuation Sheet Cleveland area.To the immediate north is an abandoned four-story brick factory National Register of Historic Places building at Chester Avenue.The loading dock that joins the N.J.Rich and Company filled with large, wood-frame industrial double-hung windows with fixed transoms retains the original wood-frame industrial windows.The main entrance to the building is photos 1-23.) Building to the abandoned factory was constructed in 1970.These two northerly filled with masonry and small windows.The vast majority of the bays were originally United States Department of the Interior Significance.
The building measures 370 feet in length (north/south) and 100 feet in above grade.The four exterior walls are similar, divided into bays that are 10 feet on MPS Ferm 10-600-e OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 story, masonry industrial and commercial buildings stand on the east side of East 61st Page Section number 7 OHSPAB National Park Service Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Section number - building includes removal of the third-floor steel sash and all Cal wall panels, retention of the north/south axis of the roof, are two steel-frame trapezoidal structures, side by side, southeast section of the first floor, where the administrative offices are located; and on all inches; first, second and third floors 14 feet. There is textile machinery throughout the chevron design cornice provide decorative relief to this otherwise austere entry.
There are has a terrazzo floor, rendered in a diamond pattern, a marble wainscot and marble door date to the 1933-34 renovations that were made to accommodate the Printz-Biederman (See photos 1,2,6,7,8.) Page in the basement, where part of the south half has been subdivided for storage; in the floors where toilet rooms are located.The floors are industrial-grade hardwood on The flat roof is asphalt applied over a concrete slab.There are redbrick elevator and three upper floors that will be removed for the proposed new interior uses of office and The interior of the N. J. Rich and Company Building is an important early example of a Company when it moved to this building in 1934. The overall condition of the interior is landing and that open into a 30 feet long (north/south) by 20 feet wide lobby.
The lobby frames, plaster walls that are capped by an art deco chevron design cornice, and a plaster panels. Continuation Sheet 1970s. There are two reinforced-concrete rectangular roof monitors, 50 feet long (n/s light to the third floor. They project approximately six feet above the roof surface. The two pairs of steel main entrance doors at grade, which are repeated at the first floor ceiling. Frosted globe pendant lights illuminate the space. The entry and lobby clearly a brick chimney, at the northwest corner of the building. At the center of the building, on exterior brick is in fair to good condition; the industrial sash is in fair to poor condition. Brass trimmed, pendant lights that appear to date to the early 1930s, and an art deco building contains a 2o-feet wide terrazzo-finish stair from grade to the first floor level.
that originally supported circular wood-frame water tanks. The tanks were removed in the sleepers over the concrete floor slabs. The floor-to-floor heights are: basement, 10 feet 6 Significance). The structural bays are 20 feet square and the structure is exposed in open, main entrance prominence at some time after 1934, probably at the time the steel sash National Register of Historic Places that matches the profile of the original wood sash in place of the steel sash and Cal wall good.
(See photos 13-18.) was installed in the late 1930s.(See photos 3,4.) The proposed rehabilitation of this utility penthouses in the center of the south wall, the southwest corner, and together with universal manufacturing space on all floors, except for wood-frame and plaster partitions Narrative Description (continued) the original wood sash on the east wall, first floor, and installation of new aluminum sash reinforced concrete slab and"mushroom"capital structural system(see Statement of United States Department of the Interior laboratory space.(See photos 9-23.) The main entrance at the southeast corner of the The N. J. Rich and Co. Building axis) and 20 feet wide(e/w axis),placed in the center of the roof that admit additional NP8 Form 10-900-- OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-800-e The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio List of Photographs: N.J.
Rich and Company Building, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Photographer: Ted Sande, AIA Date of Photography: 31 October 2002 Original Negatives: Ted Sande, AIA 1. Exterior: West Wall, looking northeast. 2. Exterior: South Wall, looking north. 3. Exterior: South and East Walls, looking northwest. 4. Exterior: East Wall, Main Entrance Detail, looking northwest. 5. Exterior: East Wall, Original Windows Detail, looking west. 6. Exterior: North Wall, looking southwest. 7. Exterior: Roof, looking north. 8. Exterior: Roof, looking southwest. 9. Interior: Basement, south meeting room, looking northwest. 10. Interior: Basement, looking north. 12. Interior: 15 Floor, Main Entrance Stairway, looking southwest. 13. Interior: 1ª Floor, Main Entrance Stairway, Pendant Lights, looking southwest. 14. Interior: 1% Floor, Main Entrance Lobby, looking southwest. 15.
Interior: 1 Floor, Main Entrance Lobby, looking east. 16. Interior: 1* Floor, Main Entrance Stairway, looking east. 17. Interior: 1 Floor, Office Corridor, East, looking north. 18. Interior: 1ª Floor, Original Window Detail. 19. Interior: 2nd Floor, Typical Manufacturing Floor, looking north. 20. Interior: 2nd Floor, Typical Mushroom Capital Detail, looking southeast. 21. Interior: 3rd Floor, Clerestory Monitor Detail, looking northeast. 22. Interior: 3rd Floor, Typical Manufacturing Floor, looking southwest. 23. Interior: 3d Floor, Typical Interior Secondary Stairway, looking northwest. National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet United States.Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 Page Section number 7, 8 NPS Form 10-900-e OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio CHESTER AV. N.J. RICH AND CO.
BLDG. Continuation Sheet Page NORTH (City Architecture computer drawing, 2002. Reduced, do not scale.) National Park Service National Register of Historic Places CLEVELAND Site Orientation Plan and Photographic Location Key United States Department of the Interior CANVAS GOODS Section number 7, 8 FIXTURES OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio (City Architecture computer drawing, 2002. Reduced, do not scale.) Continuation Sheet Page National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Lower and First Level Floor Plans and Photographic Location Key United States Department of the Interior 360'-0" Section number 7, 8 NPS Form 10-900-e NPS Form 10-900-e The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio (City Architecture computer drawing, 2002.
Reduced, do not scale.) SECOND LEVEL FLOOR PLAN Page Continuation Sheet Section number National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Second and Third Level Floor Plans and Photographic Location Key (8-86) United States Department of the Interior OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 * THIRD LEVEL FLOOR PLAN 360'-0" 100'-0" NPS Form 10-000-e The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio (City Architecture computer drawing, 2002. Reduced, do not scale.) Page Section number Continuation Sheet National Register of Historic Places United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Roof Level Plan and Photographic Location Key 360'-0" OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 ROOF LEVEL FLOOR PLAN 001 OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 The N. J. Rich and Co.
Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio SCALE: 1/16" = 1'-0 Page Continuation Sheet NORTH ELEVATION WEST ELEVATION National Register of Historic Places United States Department of the Interior National Park Service (City Architecture computer drawing,2002. Reduced, do not scale.) North and West Walls Section number 7, 8 NPS Form 10-900-e The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio South and East Walls (City Architecture computer drawing, 2002. Reduced, do not scale.) SCALE: 1/16° - Continuation Sheet EAST ELEVATION National Register of Historic Places National Park Service United States Department of the Interior NPS Form 10-800-e OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 Page - 7 SOUTH ELEVATION Section number 7, 8 NPS Form 10-900-a The N. J. Rich and Co.
Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Collection.) Page Continuation Sheet National Register of Historic Places United States Department of the Interior Section number 7, 8 National Park Service Photograph of the East Wall OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (Image reversed. The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Statement of Significance represents a unique policy of real estate investment and property development that was engineering firm, Wilbur J. Watson and Company; and 2) it is the earliest documented "mushroom" capital and two-way reinforced concrete slab structural system. The Case School of Applied Science.
The Case School of Applied Science was established in 1880 by a bequest from Leonard Case, Jr., who had inherited a considerable fortune from his father that came, in part, the practical application of that learning to industry, which was central to the economy of late 19th Century Cleveland. The School's name was changed to the Case Institute of Western Reserve University in 1967. The Case School earned an international reputation the founder of Dow Chemical Company, and Kent H. Smith, Class of 1917, who, together with his brothers Albert Kelvin and Vincent, created the Lubrizol Corporation, are indicative of the latter. 1 Leonard Case, Jr. (1820-1880) was a Yale educated lawyer. Due to ill health, he never interest in natural science. On his father's death in 1864 he inherited $15 million, which he viewed as a philanthropic trust.
In February, 1877, Case executed a Trust Deed which under the laws of Ohio, an institution of learning to be called the "Case School of Applied Science" located in the said City of Cleveland, in which shall be taught by competent professors and teachers, mathematics, physics, engineering -mechanical and civil engineering, chemistry, economic geology, mining and metallurgy, natural history, drawing, and modern languages. And immediately upon the regular organization of such corporation to convey by sufficient deed in fee simple, and free and clear of all Summary Continuation Sheet primary tenant, was a major textile manufacturer with a national reputation, practiced law and he never married.He devoted his life to scholarship with a special for academic excellence early in its existence through its distinguished faculty and its exceptional graduates.Albert A.
Michelsons invention of an interferometer and his United States Department of the Interior encourage industrial enterprise in Cleveland, and 2) the Printz-Biederman Co.,the The N.J. Rich and Company Building is significant under Criterion A because:1) it National Register of Historic Places example of that firm's development and use of a continuous reinforced concrete collaboration with Edward W.Morley of the Western Reserve University faculty, National Park Service representative of Cleveland's key role in the American textile industry.Under Criterion from real estate investment.
The School was created to foster learning in the sciences and pursued by the Case School of Applied Science to both strengthen its endowment and to Technology in 1947 and it merged with Western Reserve University to become Case C, the building is significant because:l) it is the work of a pioneering structural Section number - exemplifies the former. Their experiments with light waves to detect the earth's motion Page relative to the ether provided scientific confirmation for Albert Einstein's later development of his special theory of relativity in 1905.Herbert H.Dow, Class of 1888, 8-86) National Park Service The N. J. Rich and Co.
Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio incumbrances whatever, the said premises to such corporation, to be held and enjoyed by it in perpetuity for the sole and only purpose of collecting and receiving the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and applying the same, or the proceeds of said property, to the necessary costs and expenses of providing for and carrying forward in a thorough and efficient manner the teaching above named, and such kindred branches of learning as the institution be not permitted to exceed the annual income derived from said property." An 1880. 2 The deeded property was located in the heart of the central business district, between Street, in this vicinity.It moved to its present campus at University Circle in 1885. Additionally, Leonard Case, Jr. left to the City of Cleveland 200 acres between East 40th Street and East 53d Street, north of St.
Clair Avenue for industrial firms and railroad rights-of-way, which became the city's first industrial district. A review of 1921 plat maps shows 50 industries located in this area, including: American Steel & Wire Co., just to name a few of the better-known firms. 3 A key figure in the growth of the Case School of Applied Science was Eckstein Case, a cousin of Leonard Case, Jr., whom he much admired. Eckstein Case was the twelfth child in a family of thirteen children born into the Zophar Case family in Illinois. Zophar the 38-year difference in their ages. He attended West Point for two years, but withdrew due to injuries suffered in artillery maneuvers. In Cleveland, he studied law in the office seventy-nine in 1937. He died in 1944. During his tenure, he exerted enormous command of the Case endowment.
It was in land - and the rental, improvement, and disposal of so many separate parcels of property required a tremendous knowledge of Page Continuation Sheet of Judge Rufus Ranney and then completed his education at the University of Michigan, National Register of Historic Places influence upon the Case School, especially with respect to its fiscal policies.Quoting detail;in years when accounting and budgeting systems were elementary or nonexistent, Statement of Significance (continued) and expenses as may be necessary for the general uses and purposes of such an was a younger brother of Leonard Case.Eckstein referred to Leonard as"uncle"due to United States Department of the Interior where he graduated with a degree in law in 1884.He was appointed secretary-treasurer Brown Hoisting Machinery Co., Cleveland City Forge, The Otis Steel Co.,Patterson- Sargent Co.(paints and colors),Bethlehem Steel Co.,and the Osborn Manufacturing Co., Trustees of said institution may deem advisable;and to the payment of such other costs Superior and St.Clair Avenues.The Case School was opened in 1881 on Rockwell from C.
H. Cramer's history of the Case School:"His [Eckstein Case's] power was of the Case School in 1887 and remained its secretary until his retirement at the age of OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 Section number anonymous gift from Case of $1 million accompanied the Trust Deed when Case died in Case kept most school accounts in his head." 4 (Emphasis added.) based in minor part on his name but largely rested on his particular knowledge and 886 The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio It was Eckstein Case, more than any other person associated with the Case School, who Cleveland's period of industrial growth to benefit the school that he founded. The N. J. administration for nearly fifty years, during which Cleveland grew to become one of the nation's leading manufacturing cities. The Cleveland Garment Industry. uniforms and accessories.
This growth continued afterward with civilian clothing for the rapidly growing population of an expanding United States during the last quarter of the mill and that they leased the building from its completion in 1911 until the company went Co., cited above, moved into it after the Case School had made renovations to suit the following World War II, until the firm closed in 1978. The Ohio Knitting Mills, a maker developments are not discussed in detail in this narrative, since they are beyond the period of significance of this nomination.) 6 Continuation Sheet Statement of Significance (continued) ready-to-wear clothing just prior to the Civil War, peaking in the 1920s and continuing National Register of Historic Places They, in turn, sold the building to Lassi Enterprises, L.L.C. in 2002.
(The post-1952 National Park Service stimulus to clothing manufacture in Cleveland with the huge demand for Union army Rich and Company Building is a prime surviving example of the Case School of Applied suits and cloaks.L.N.Gross Co.,women's shirtwaists.The Richman Bros.Co.,men's that established national reputations in the business include:Joseph & Feiss Co.,mens The Tenants of the N. J.Rich and Co.Building. of knitted goods for the garment industry, began leasing portions of the interior in the early 1950s and eventually acquired the building in 1960,under the style:R. G.A.Co. Cleveland has a long history of garment manufacturing, dating back to the making of United States Department of the Interior fostered his cousin's deep interest in real estate and the potential it held during firm dates to1845as aclothing store.It beganmanufacturingin 1897 during the 1920s.
All of the tenants of this building have been in the textile industry.Information on the 19"h Century.Cleveland was second only to New York City in clothing manufacture The major firms that were essential components of the Cleveland garment industry and ona diminished scale up to the present.The Civil War(1861-1865)provided the suits, furnishings and hats.(1879 -1992.) Bobbie Brooks, Inc.,women's apparel. out of business in 1928. The factory stood vacant until 1934,when the Printz-Biederman Science's land utilization endowment policy as it was practiced under Eckstein Case's and continues today as a subsidiary of T.J.F.C.,New York.) H.Black & Co.,womens first tenant, the N. J. Rich and Co.,is sparse. It is known that the business was a knitting Biederman Co.,women's suits and coats.
(1893 -1978.) 5 (Founded in 1939 and continuing today under the ownership of Pubco.) And, the Printz- tenant. Printz-Biederman remained in this building, with diminishing occupancy Page National Park Service The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Statement of Significance (continued) The prime tenant was the Printz-Biederman Co., which was one of the principal garment manufacturers in Cleveland and one of America's oldest manufacturers of women's sons, Alexander and Michael, and his son-in-law, Joseph Biederman, in December 1893. was incorporated in 1904. Alexander Printz was president and he remained so until 1954. remained and apparently expanded, until it moved to this building at 1974 East 61 Street Cleveland, New York, Boston and Chicago during its peak in the early 1930s.
In 1954, Max Reiter, co-founder of Ritmore Sportswear Co., which later became Bobbie Brooks, Inc., acquired the Printz-Biederman Co. At that time it employed 1,000 workers, 600 of whom worked in this building. The company began to decline in the 1960s and closed in The Wilbur J. Watson & Associates Company. The engineering firm that designed the N. J. Rich and Co. Building was the Wilbur J. pioneering the use of reinforced concrete following Watson's explicit philosophy that that the company designed in the Northeast Ohio area include: the Rocky River Bridge (1910), Akron's Howard Street Bridge (1912), the Cleveland & Youngstown Railroad bridges (later the Shaker Rapid Transit Line) (1916), the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge (1932, impressive of which is the Akron Goodyear Zeppelin Dock (1929, NR 1973), the largest clear-span structure in the world, enclosing 8 and ½ acres.
Of particular interest with respect to the N. J. Rich and Co. Building, is their early exploration of the use of for industrial structures, which dates from 1910-1911, the time that this factory was was born in Berea, Ohio. He attended Baldwin Wallace College and received a B.Sc. in Engineering from the Case School of Applied Science. He worked initially for Osborn close ties with his alma mater, which conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor Decade of Bridges: 1926-1936 (1937), and Bridges in History and Legend (1937).
2 Continuation Sheet reinforced concrete"mushroom"columns and two-way reinforced concrete floor slabs National Register of Historic Places engineering and aesthetics should be carefully interrelated in structural design.Bridges The firm also undertook other kinds of challenging structural commissions, the most United States Department of the Interior Watson Company.It earned an international reputation in the design of bridges and in The company originally occupied a loft at 102 St. Clair Avenue.In 1902 and 1903,it in1934.The firmmerged with H.Black& Co.in 1922and had salesoffices in moved to 425Lakeside Ave.and to71Bank Street(1213W.6 Street),where it of Engineering in1930.Watson's publications include:Bridge Architecture (1927),A He had been the head designer for D.Black& Co.,makers of women's cloaks.The firm OMB Approvel No. 1004-0018 Section number apparel.
Moritz Printz, a master tailor, formed the company in partnership with his two 1978. 7 the company saw the possibilities in using precast concrete beams in bridge construction Page and pioneeredin the use of steel centering for building concrete bridges.He maintained Engineering Co.in Cleveland and established his own firm in 1907.As early as 1908, constructed.8Wilbur Jay the founder of this engineering firm, The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Statement of Significance (continued) The N. J. Rich and Company Building's Structural System This building is in an industrial vernacular style that grew from the Factory Mutual Fire first on the Eastern Seaboard in the post-Civil War period and rapidly spread west into manufacturing sections of major mid-west cities such as Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and St.
Louis from the 1870s until the 1930s. 10 Fires plagued the early textile mills from their first appearance in the 1790s due to their highly combustible interiors, resulting from the combination of open-flame illumination, machinery with exposed working parts, machine oil and the thousands of particles of fiber in the air. Literally hundreds of these buildings burned in the period from 1790 to 1860. Beginning in the 1830s, the Factory Mutuals began to define a form of factory to their immediate failure when subjected to the extreme temperatures that fires produce.
Steel, insulated with fireproof materials (clay tile or concrete) was available in the latter construction, on the other hand, tended to char on the exterior rather than burn through or deflect and collapse, if the fire was detected early, and it became the industrial standard for most factory buildings, regardless of what was made in them, from the 1860s well into the first quarter of the 20# century. It was a conservative, dependable and relatively inexpensive method of construction. 11 early 1900s. However, the idea of combining steel rods or a steel mesh with concrete dates to 1849 and France, where Joseph Monier used this combination of materials to make tubs for orange trees. By the 1870s, Monier and others, in France, England and Germany, were developing patents for structural systems, including reinforced concrete thin-shell structures.
Reinforced concrete was utilized in European bridge design, under the Monier System, beginning in the mid-1870s. The first American reinforced concrete bridge dates to 1894,12 Later in that decade, Wilbur Jay Watson appears on the scene to begin an illustrious career building reinforced concrete bridges worldwide. Minneapolis, in 1906. It soon became a competitive, indeed superior, alternative to the provided a durable, finished surface when the formwork was removed.
13 Continuation Sheet National Register of Historic Places United States Department of the Interior National Park Service the emerging industrial cities of the mid-west.Similar buildings predominated in the conventional slow-burning timber system, since it was easy to form and pour and The"mushroom"column and two-way reinforced concrete slab structural system was Insurance Company's requirements for fire-resistant construction.This style appeared exterior walls.Early experiments with cast iron beams and posts proved ineffectual, due Section number Page construction that came to be known as "slow-burning". It consisted of heavy timber part of the 19" century, but it was expensive. The dense, thick wood of slow-burning invented by C. A. P.
Turner, who first applied it in the Johnson-Bovey building, Page beams and posts supporting heavy industrial plank floors with load bearing masonry (8-86) National Park Service The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Statement of Significance (continued) Watson was undoubtedly aware of Turner's achievement and began to develop his own form of "mushroom" and two-way slab reinforced concrete system during the next four from the capital of the columns into the ceiling slabs. While others were working on the concept simultaneously, Watson introduced this type of construction in Cleveland in 1911." 14 The N. J. Rich and Co.
Building was designed in 1910 and constructed in The minutes of the Case School of Applied Science Board of Trustees for Monday, 7 November 1910, written in Eckstein Case's small, precise script, reads, in part: "The Secretary [Eckstein Case] reported that the President and he had contracted with the National Concrete Company 15 for the erection of a building 100 x 360 feet of Brick and known as the Root purchase at a cost not to exceed $132,467.00 with certain reservations for taking our own bids for the heating, plumbing and electric wiring and elevator fully set forth in the contract. The building to be completed on or before June 1" 1911. And that they had executed and delivered to the N. J. Rich Co.
a lease of the building for fifteen years commencing at its completion, at an annual rental of $15,706.00, of which sum $2400.00 covers 6% upon the value of the land occupied by said building and $13 306.00 10% on the estimated cost of the building itself. with provisions in the lease to increase or decrease the amount under certain conditions understood in the lease. Also that they had entered into an agreement with the Hasbeth Land Co. owner of the land adjoining on the east to open and dedicate to the public a street 44 feet in width it to pay one half and the School one half the cost of improving the same to the satisfaction of the City. Upon motion this action was approved by the Board." 16 The City of Cleveland Application for Permit, New Structure No. 34162, dated 2 November 1910, confirms that the architect for this building was Wilbur J. Watson, the of Applied Science.
Further, the experimental nature of the building's structural system is highlighted by the following extraordinary statement under Remarks: "Mushroom System Design. This set of drawings is approved with the understanding that the reinforced concrete work will be tested where we deem it necessary to 2½ times its calculated live load [125 lbs/sq.ft.]. Furthermore that additional outside stairs will be added if conditions change in occupancy etc." 17 time. National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet concrete fireproof construction.Three stories and basement in height on the property contractor the National Concrete Fireproofing Company and the owner the Case School 1911.It is the only known factory building that the Watson firm built in Cleveland at this United States Department of the Interior Section number NP$ Ferm 10-000-e OMB Approvel Mo. 1024-0018 years.
The evidence strongly suggests that this is the first instance of his use of this construction - a column of reinforced concrete with the embedded rods spreading out system in any of his buildings. Dr. Sara Ruth Watson, a daughter and biographer of Wilbur Watson, states that: "Watson also developed the so-called 'mushroom' type of Page National Park Service The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Section number It is evident from the reservations expressed in this application for a building permit that this was not a structural system that the Cleveland Building department had encountered before and they wanted to be absolutely sure that it was structurally sound consists of reinforced concrete columns, beams and slabs, which, in effect serve as a translation of the traditional slow-burning, heavy-timber structural system into the new material.
Both the Richman Brothers Company (1916), 1600 East 55" Street, considered the best designed factory of its time in Cleveland, 19 and the Ford Motor Car Factory (1914, NR 1976), 11610 Euclid Avenue, by Detroit architect Albert Kahn, 20 followed structures in Cleveland. Reinforced concrete technology was quickly adopted locally and significantly to pave the way for its popular acceptance by industry throughout the nation. Van Tassel, David D. and Grabowski, John J. The Dictionary of Cleveland Biography. Pages 314-315, 323, 130 and 420. Abbey [grantor]: Trust Deed dated 24 February 1877. Hopkins, G. M. Plat Book, City of Cleveland, Volume 1, Eastern Section, 1921. See Maps 5, 10 and 16 Van Tassel, David D. and Grabowski, John J. The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Pages 459-462. Case Western Reserve University Archives. Property Records for Permanent Parcel Number 118-04-034.
Van Tassel and Grabowski. Encyclopedia. Page 821. Watson, Wilbur J. Bridge Architecture (1927), A Decade of Bridges: 1926- Reserve Historical Society News, July-August 1980. Van Tassel and Grabowski. Dictionary. Page 471 and Kohn, Robert D. The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1934 edition. "Watson, Wilbur Jay, engineer". Pages 132-133. Page End Notes. Continuation Sheet National Register of Historic Places Statement of Significance (continued) the N.J.Rich and Company building as important reinforced concrete industrial United States Department of the Interior Bridges in History and Legend (1937).See also:Watson, identified as the first reinforced concrete structure in Cleveland.18The structure The H.Black and Co.Building 2002)at 2010 Superior Avenue has been OMB Approvel No.
1024-0018 Company and its initial use of the "mushroom" capital, two-way reinforced continuous Cramer, C. H. Case Institute of Technology: A Centennial History. Page 41. Sara Ruth. "Western Reserve Profiles: Wilbur J. Watson, Builder", Western Case Western Reserve University Archives.Leonard Case to Henry G concrete slab method of construction in the N. J. Rich and Co. Building helped nationally by a number of manufacturing firms in the 192Os.The Wilbur J. Watson The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Sande, Ted (ed). The New England Textile Mill Survey: Selections from the Historic American Buildings Survey, No. 11. Sande, T. The Architecture of the Rhode Island Textile Industry. Pages 193- Derry, T. K., and Williams, Trevor I. A Short History of Technology. Pages Gasparini, Dario A., and Vermes, William. "C. A. P. Turner and Reinforced Watson, Sara Ruth. Ibid.
City Directory, Cleveland, 1910-1911: "The National Concrete Fireproofing Trustees, Case School of Applied Science, Monday, 7 November 1910. City of Cleveland, Department of Buildings. Application for Permit, New Structure, dated 2 November 1910. Permit No. 34162. Plan No. 8913. Bluestone. Ibid. Page 53. _ Page 39. National Register of Historic Places (listed 1976). 417-418. 194. Conference. National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number National Park Service Statement of Significance (continued) Industrial Site. Page 52. Daniel M. (ed).Cleveland:An Inventory of Historic Engineering and United States Department of the Interior Co. Offices at 1315-1319 Citizens Building. F. C.
Caine, Pres.-Treas." Case Western Reserve University Archives.Minutes of the Board of End Notes (continued) Site visit.National Register of Historic Places (listed 2002) and Bluestone, ONB Approvel No. 1024-0018 Page Concrete Flat-Slab Bridges"Proceedings of the 7 Historic Bridge ONB Approvel No. 1024-0018 The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio A. Primary Sources. 1. Case Western Reserve University Archives. a. Lease Agreement between Case School of Applied Science, Lessor, and N. J. Rich and Company, Lessee, dated 22 October 1910. (Six pages.) room, northeast corner of new building) dated 1 August 24, 1877. Signed by Leonard Case, witnessed by John R. Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Case School of Applied Science, Meeting of Monday, 7 November 1910. (Two 2. City of Cleveland, Department of Buildings a.
Application for Permit, New Structure, Number 34162, Plan Number 8913. 2 November 1910. (Four pages.) 3. Cuyahoga County Archives. a. Property Record. Permanent Parcel Number 118-04-034. Updated to 13 May 1975. (Four pages.) B. Secondary Sources. 1. Bluestone, Daniel M. Cleveland: An Inventory of Historic City Directory, Cleveland 1910-1911 Cramer, C. H. Case Institute of Technology: A Centennial History, 1880-1980. Cleveland: Case Western Reserve University, 1980. Technology. London: Oxford University Press. 1960. Hopkins, G. M. Plat Book, City of Cleveland, Volume , Eastern Section. Philadelphia. 1921. 118-04-034. Page National Register of Historic Places 1911. (Two pages.) Bibliography Continuation Sheet Various property records for Permanent Parcel Number United States Department of the Interior Engineering and Industrial Sites.
Washington, DC: Historic National Park Service Section number American Engineering Record. 1978. Lease Agreement Modification an incinerator Leonard Case to Henry G. Abbey.Trust Deed.February Ranney and William Rattle. (Three pages.) Derry, T. K.,and Trevor, I. William. A Short History of The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Section number - 6. Kohn, Robert D. The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Volume D. New York: James T. White & Co. 7. Martin, C. T. From School to Institute: An Informal Story of Case. Cleveland: The Case Class of 1915, 1967. September 2001, Cleveland, Ohio. Sande, T. The Architecture of the Rhode Island Textile Industry, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Pennsylvania. 1972. Selections from the Historic American Buildings Survey, No. 11. 11. Van Tassel, David D. and Grabowski, John J.
The Dictionary of Bloomington, Indiana: of Cleveland History. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, Second Edition, 1996. Western Reserve Historical Society. July-August 1980. Page Bibliography (continued) The Encyclopedia Continuation Sheet National Register of Historic Places National Park Service University Press, 1996. United States Department of the Interior 10. Sande, Ted New England Textile Mill Survey. Washington, DC: Historic American Buildings Survey. 1971. 1790-1860. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms. 13. Western Reserve Historical Society News. Cleveland: The Indiana 1934. Cleveland Biography OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio WADE PARK - N.J. RICH AND CO. 1974 EAST GIE ST. INTERIOR - GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, RESTON, VIRGINIA - 1997 Light-duty road, hard or - Unimproved road Interstate Route LU. S.
Route ) State Route CLEVELAND NORTH, OHIO QUADRANGLE LOCATION 1994 Hospital Page EUCLID NORTH Continuation Sheet BUILDING hard surface UTM REFERENCE: ROAD CLASSIFICATION CARNEGIE National Register of Historic Places Geographical Data. Secondary highway, National Park Service improved surface Section number Primary highway, United States Department of the Interior The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Reduced in size, do not scale.) 17/44B875E/4594875N Addams High Sch 81°37'30" CLEVELAND, OHIO 41°30' NPS Form 10-900-e BM 634 T.7 N. /i Rockefeller BM 666 A671 (SHAKER 7 872927 Sta AVE 637 CEEVELAND Fire INWOOD OHIO (U.S.G.S. (8-86) CLEVELAND NORTH QUADRANGLE (U.S.G.S. 7.5 Minute Series Map: Sch 4597 BMP632 * The N. J. Rich and Co.
Building Section number - Page CURT Continuation Sheet National Register of Historic Places Geographical Data (continued) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Cleveland, Cuyahoga, ohio Reduced in size, do not scale. NPS Form 10-800-e OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (Hopkins Plat Books, Cleveland, Volume 1, 1912, Corrections 1915.) (8-86) NPS Form 10-900-e National Park Service Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio Page CHESTER Section number 10 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet NORTH The N. J. Rich and Co. Building Geographical Data (continued) United States Department of the Interior Reduced in size, do not scale. OMB Approvel No.
1024-0018 HARRIS UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET NAME : DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: N PDIL: N PERIOD: N SLR DRAFT: N ABSTRACT/ SUMMARY COMMENTS : DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N REJECT TELEPHONE 5/04/03 DATE 3/20/03 MULTIPLE DISCIPLINE 4/18/03 REVIEWER RECOM./CRITERIA NATIONAL: OTHER: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DATE RECEIVED: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: National Register DATE OF 45TH DAY: REASONS FOR REVIEW: COMMENT WAIVER: N RETURN LESS THAN 5O YEARS: N.J. RICHECO. BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO N.J. RICH E CO. BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO N.J, RICH ECO, BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO N.J. RICH $co. BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHÓGA, OHIO N.J. RICH ECO. BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO N.V. RICHECO. BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOÇA, OHIO N.J. RICH ECO. BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOÇA, OHIO N.J, RICHECO.
BLDG. CLEVELAND CUYAHOGA, OHO N.J. RICHECO BLDA. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO N.J. RICH$CO. BLDC. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOÇA, OHIO CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO N.J. RICH $CO. BLOC. KNITTING MILLS OFFICE EMPLOYMENT 2 FLOOR N.J. RICH $CO. BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO KNITTING MILLS 2* FLOOR OFFICE EMPLOYMENT OHIO N.J. RICHECO, BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO 2* FLOOR OHIO KNITTING MILLS OFFICE N.J.RICH$CO. BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO N.J.RICH$CO, BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOÇA, OHIO N.J. RICH $CO, BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO CLEVELAND, CUYAIOGA, OHIO CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO SCT YARNS N.J. RICH $CO. BLDG, CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO N.J. RICH$CO, BLDG. CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO N.J. RICH$CO. BLDG.
CLEVELAND, CUYAHOGA, OHIO 1994 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR CLEVELAND NORTH QUADRANGLE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CLEVELAND NORTH, OHIO OHIO - CUYAHOGA CO COMMERCIAL SURVEY CU UNITED STATES 7.5 MINUTE SERIES (TOPOGRAPHIC) (216) 771-3995 REC'D BY OHPO FEB 0 6 2003 601 Lakeside Avenue RECEIVED Cleveland, Ohio 44114 January 28, 2003 Ms. Barbara Powers, Department Head Planning, Inventory & Registration Ohio Historic Preservation Office 567 East Hudson Street Columbus, Ohio 43211 RE: NOMINATION OF N.J. RICH AND CO. BUILDING, 1974 EAST 61ST STREET, CLEVELAND, OHIO TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Dear Ms. Powers: Building for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. another important neighborhood structure in Cleveland. I am aware that the N. J. Rich Co.
Building represents a unique example of real estate investment and property development that was pursued by the Case School of Applied Cleveland. The building is the work of a pioneering structural engineering firm, Wilbur J. Watson and Company. The Printz-Biederman Co. the primary tenant, was a major textile manufacturer with a national reputation, representative of Cleveland's key role in the American textile to New York City in clothing manufacturing during the 1920's. All of the tenants of this building have been in the textile industry. technology companies.
biotechnology and information technology companies from existing incubators in Another compelling reason to list this building in the National Register is that Science to both strengthen its endowment and to encourage industrial enterprise in An Equal Opportunity Employer industry.Cleveland has a long history of garment manufacturing and was only second Cleveland.The historic designation would be invaluable and help prevent the loss of City of Cleveland It is my understanding that the purchaser of this building intends to convert the Cleveland City Hall Office of the Mayor Jane L. Campbell, Mayor Iam writing to express my support for the nomination of the former N.J. Rich and Co.
designation may permit the developer to qualify for certain tax incentives allowing the guarantee the viability of our maturing biomedical, biotechnology and information creation of affordable technology space, something desperately needed to help building to a step-up incubator to house maturing leading edge biomedical, and assistance would be deeply appreciated. Sincerely Yours, City of Cleveland Council President Frank Jackson My office is prepared to do whatever is necessary to preserve this building.Your help Mayor Jane L. Campbell REC'D BY OHPO FEB 19 2003 Frank G. Jackson President of City Council February 11, 2003 Ms. Barbara Powers, Department Head Planning, Inventory & Registration Ohio Historic Preservation Office 567 East Hudson Street Columbus, Ohio 43211 RE: NOMINATION OF N.J. RICH AND CO.
BUILDING, 1974 EAST 61S STREET, CLEVELAND, OHIO TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Dear Ms. Powers: The City of Cleveland needs to offer a wide variety of incubator facilities to service leading edge biomedical, biotechnology and information technology companies, many of whom are graduating from hospitals and universities in our city. Finding existing technology space and historic preservation we need to create economic opportunities for concentration of qualified research personnel, lab facilities, legal and accounting services, transportation and broadband communication lines. where historic structures have been lost. This project will be the catalyst to promote future development along Euclid Avenue as an important part of our technology center Councilman, Ward 5 nomination. reasons. campus.
Respectfully CLEVELAND Cleveland City Council We have an opportunity here to preserve important architecture in this neighborhood downtown and University Circle will also afford them excellent accessibility to a heavy buildings that have conversion potential is difficult due to functional or location Street in our Midtown Business Corridor is the perfect blend of sophisticated Office of the Council Preserving the old N.J.Rich and Co.Building (Printz Biederman Co.Bldg.)on E. 61st Iam in full support of that effort and I encourage you to favorably view this Frank Jackson, President City Hall - Room 216 - 601 Lakeside Avenue - Cleveland, Ohio 44114 - (216) 664-2903 - Fax (216) 420-8138 our residents and retain businesses.The strategic location of the site between City of Cleveland MAR 0 4 2003 Jane L. Campbell, Mayor Cleveland Landmarks Commission Robert D. Keiser.
Secretary 60l Lakeside Avenue. Room 519 Cleveland. Ohio 44114-1071 216/664-2531 - Fax: 216/664-3281 Ohio Historic Preservation Office Columbus, OH 43211-1030 occupied by the Prinz- Biederman Clothing Company, and the Ohio Knitting Mills. It is significant in the areas of industry, engineering, and education. Robert D. Keiser Sincerely, Secretary Steve Gordon Dear Steve: City Planning The Cleveland Landmarks Commission voted to recommend the N.J.Rich Company (Ohio An Equal Opportunity Employer 567 East Hudson Street Knitting Mills) at 1974 East 61 Street was eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The building meets Criteria A and C. It was built in 191l for the N.J. Rich Company, later NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES N. J. RICH AND COMPANY BUILDING - OHIO KNITTING MILLS - 1974 EAST 61T Register of Historic Places.
WITNESSES Ted Sande (Historic Preservation Consultant), Mike May (Midtown Development Corporation). TESTIMONY The N. J.Rich Building is being nominated for the National Register SANDE A SHORR_SIMPSON Y. ADJOURNMENT Motion passed. Cleveland Landmarks Commission January 9, 2003 The building was later was occupied by the Printz-Biederman clothing company, City Planning the project. The building is being renovated into office space as the first building Mr. Gibans presided as Chair during this part of the meeting. and education.The historic tax credit will be a major part of the financing for in the Midtown Technology Park.The proposed complex will include five according to Criteria A and C.It was built in 1911 for the N. J. Rich Company. ACTION Motion to recommend the N. J.Rich Building to the Ohio Historic buildings and will rebuild the urban context of the neighborhood.
VOLPE_BURIK Y CIMPERMAN_GIBANS Y MADISON 1 PIERCE LEE 2 REICH Y. and the Ohio Knitting Mills and is significant in the areas of industry, engineering, STREET The N. J.Rich Building is being nominated for listing in the National Preservation Office for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. 567 East Hudson Street Columbus, Ohio 43211-1030 614/ 298-2000 Fax: 614/ 298-2037 Visit us at www.ohiohistory.org/resource/histpres/ RECEIVED March 17, 2003 SINCE 1885 Ms. Carol Shull, Chief of Registration National Register of Historic Places 1201 Eye Street, NW 8t Floor Washington DC 20005 procedures have been followed for this new submission. NEW SUBMISSION N.J. Rich & Company Building Independent Order of Odd Fellows Temple Downtown Oberlin Historic District If you have questions or comments about these documents, please contact this office.
State Historic Preservation Officer COUNTY Cuyahoga SOCIETY Athens Sincerely, enclosures Erie Lorain HISTORICAL Athens County Infirmary Rachel Tooker Ohio Historic Preservation Office NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Dear Ms. Shull: Enclosed please find four (4) new National Register nominations. All appropriate notification OHIO
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