SHELBY — Downtown Shelby has a new point of pride.
On Friday, the Shelby Historic Preservation Commission dedicated a historic marker commemorating the Shelby Center Historic District. The district runs along Main Street, beginning at the former fire station on the east end and ending at the Ohio Eye building on the west end.
“We want to honor the fact that we do have a historic district,” said Christina Drain, chair of the Shelby Historic Preservation Commission. “Hopefully it will generate a little bit more publicity to the downtown area.”
The Shelby Center Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, but a marker was never placed. At the time, the district contained 35 contributing structures along Main Street; seven have since been demolished mostly due to damage from flooding.
The historic marker was made possible through a grant from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, a private, grant-making foundation established in 2005. The Foundation is committed to supporting the celebration and preservation of community history; to date, the Foundation has awarded over 1,100 roadside markers and plaques nationwide.
“Markers are important in several ways: they preserve history, educate the public, encourage pride of place, and help promote historic tourism; in turn, generating an economic benefit in the areas where they’re located,” the Foundation said in a letter.
The new historic marker is just the latest step Shelby has taken to honor its history. In 2015, Shelby City Council passed a historic preservation ordinance for the purpose of preserving Shelby’s distinctive character and its “cultural, social, residential, commercial, industrial, educational, political, or architectural heritage for the enjoyment, enrichment and benefit of the citizens of Shelby.”
The passage of the ordinance created the Shelby Historic Preservation Committee is made up of five members appointed by Mayor Steve Schag.
The duties of the commission are to promote historic preservation and educate Shelby citizens about historic preservation, as well as recommending to city council the designation of landmarks and historic districts. The commission also works with property owners in Shelby to designate eligible landmarks, building or structures on the National Register of Historic Places and to participate in the Ohio Historic Inventory.
Currently two Shelby buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places: Most Pure Heart of Mary Church for its Romanesque architecture, and Marvin Memorial Library for its Greek Revival architecture. The Shelby Center Historic District downtown is on the register for examples of Italianate, Queen Anne and Neo-Classical architecture.
“The benefit of being on the National Register is if you’re a nonprofit, you’re eligible for lots of grants that are cash-match grants for renovations,” Drain said. “If you’re a regular business or a home, there are tax credits you can get at both the state and federal level.
“Mansfield especially has taken advantage of those tax credits to improve some of the buildings they have in their downtown.”
In addition to the financial benefits, Drain believes bringing awareness to the historic district is a nod to the city’s industrial beginnings with the first iteration of the welded tube and the Shelby Cycle Company.
“A lot of towns around us have historic districts, and they’ve been able to put cool shops downtown and capture the ambience that historic buildings bring,” she said. “It’s something we should take pride in.”
