The John Church Company Building is a historic

commercial building Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and ...

downtown Cincinnati Downtown Cincinnati is the central business district of Cincinnati, Ohio, as well the economic and symbiotic center of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It also contains a number of urban neighborhoods in the low land area between the Ohio Ri ...

Ohio 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 ...

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. Designed by one of Cincinnati's most prominent architects, it was home to one of the country's leading vendors of sheet music and musical instruments, and it has been named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

History

John Church Jr. established the company in 1859, and after taking partners into the firm, he incorporated it in 1885. Among the company's leading ventures was the marketing of pianos produced by the Everett Piano Company of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, which was functionally a wholly owned subsidiary. Other subsidiary companies included Cincinnati's Royal Manufacturing Company, which produced smaller musical instruments such as drums, violins, guitars, mandolins, and banjos. These firms had been separate until 1892, when they were consolidated under one management in order to expand their influence over the broader world of music business.Musical-Instrument Combine
. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 1892-09-24. Besides musical instruments, the John Church Company published large amounts of

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, ...

; by the late 1870s, they were the largest music publishing house in Cincinnati and all of Ohio, and one of the largest in the United States. Among their titles were educational works such as the "School of Singing" and religious works such as "Choir and Congregation", in addition to other publications in all fields of contemporary music.

Theodore Presser Company The Theodore Presser Company is an American music publishing and distribution company located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, formerly King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and originally based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest continuing music pub ...

acquired the John Church Company in 1930. Built in 1885 on a

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 ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

, the John Church Company Building is a primarily brick and stone structure in the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style; its roof is rubber, and it features some elements of iron and steel. The five-

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

facade is divided into two sections of three

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

each, with storefronts on the first floor and windows higher up, and topped with a decorative

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. Although one of its neighbors is just three stories tall, it is substantially smaller than many of the surrounding buildings. Their building was designed by

Samuel Hannaford Samuel Hannaford (10 April 1835 – 7 January 1911) was an American architect based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Some of the best known landmarks in the city, such as Music Hall and City Hall, were of his design. The bulk of Hannaford's work was do ...

, a leading Cincinnati architect responsible for designing many of the city's most significant buildings, including

Cincinnati Music Hall Music Hall, commonly known as Cincinnati Music Hall, is a classical music performance hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, completed in 1878. It serves as the home for the Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, May Festival Ch ...

.Gordon, Stephen C., and Elisabeth H. Tuttle. '.

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, 1978-12-11, 11. Accessed 2013-11-26. As a work of a prominent architect, the building 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 ...

in 1994; it is one of dozens of Hannaford designs listed on the National Register.

References

External links

* * (publisher page, with biographical information, plate table, and other information in progress) {{Authority control Commercial buildings completed in 1885 Music publishing companies of the United States National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati Office buildings in Cincinnati Renaissance Revival architecture in Ohio

History

References

Further reading

External links