The Barr Hotel is a historic

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

on the eastern side of downtown

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

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. Built in 1914, the Neoclassical hotel occupies the northeastern corner of the intersection of High and Union Streets.

Architecture

The primary portion of the hotel is a brick building, seven

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tall;Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1.

St. Clair Shores St. Clair Shores is a suburban city bordering Lake St. Clair in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms a part of the Metro Detroit area, and is located about northeast of downtown Detroit. Its population was 59,715 at the 2010 ce ...

: Somerset, 1999, 9. it rests on a concrete

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

, 2007. Accessed 2010-05-13. and is covered by a flat roof. Next to this portion is a connected building, four stories high and also built of brick. Large

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

s and Ionic-capped

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s are among the most distinctive elements of the primary portion of the hotel.

Historical context

During the early twentieth century, Lima experienced rapid growth as a result of its place as a hub for

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

and as the home of the

Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shop's location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between ...

. Many large buildings were erected in the city's downtown, including the still-standing

Hotel Argonne The Hotel Argonne is a historic hotel in downtown Lima, Ohio, United States. Built in 1919, the hotel was dedicated to veterans of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive during the recently concluded World War.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio His ...

and the

Ohio Theatre Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

.Hopkins, Phyllis G. '.

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, 1980-05-15. Accessed 2010-04-24. The Barr Hotel is a typical building of this period. Officially opened in October 1916, the original proprietors of the hotel were the physician, Dr. Eugene Jacob Barr and his attorney son, Ortha Orrie Barr Sr., who was later elected to the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

between 1931 and 1935. In 1956, businessman, C. O. Porter assumed ownership of the hotel.

Recognition

In 1986, the Barr Hotel was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

because of its significance in overall American history. As a little-altered example of Lima's golden years, the hotel was significant partially because of the unusually frequent destruction of historic buildings in Lima since the early twentieth century.

Contemporary use

The entire building was refurbished in 1994 and became an apartment complex with modern fixtures and state-of-the-art amenities. The building, now called ''The Barr Apartments'', was bought in spring 2010 by real estate investors, Michael and Barbara O'Connor, co-owners of the company, ''O'Connor Investment Properties''. Tenants in the building are professionals working in the downtown Lima area as well as local university students.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Allen County, Ohio Hotel buildings completed in 1914 Buildings and structures in Lima, Ohio Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Neoclassical architecture in Ohio