The Neal Clothing Building is the oldest existing building on the central square of Lima

Lima, Ohio

Lima is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio along Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton and south-southwest of Toledo....

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Built before the end of the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, it has been recognized as historically significant as a representative of the city's earliest period.

Architecture

This two-story

Storey

A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...

 brick building lies on the northeastern corner of Public Square at the heart of the city. Among its distinctive architectural features are three rounded arch windows with sash panes

Sash window

A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...

, metal brackets

Bracket (architecture)

A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...

, and multiple finial

Finial

The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...

s. Although some of the facade

Facade

A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

 has been modified, an original metal awning

Awning

An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a light structure of aluminium, iron or steel, possibly...

 covers the recessed entrance.

Historic context

The Neal Clothing Building is the sole surviving building from downtown Lima's earliest period, and it appears in even the oldest pictures of the northeastern corner of the square. At this time, the city's economy was dependent primarily on the agriculture of the surrounding countryside. During the 1870s, the city's commerce grew as railroads expanded into the area, and several large commercial buildings, including the still-standing Union Block

Union Block (Lima, Ohio)

The Union Block is a historic business building on Public Square in downtown Lima, Ohio, United States. Built in 1878, it is a three-story brick building with an modified rectangular floor plan and a sloping roofline....

, were built on Public Square during this time. Further growth occurred after petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

 was found in the city's vicinity in 1885; as Lima's population grew 300% from 1880 to 1900, the need for larger buildings was apparent, and many ornate commercial structures were erected in the city during this period. As the boom continued into the twentieth century, other significant buildings were erected on Public Square, including the First National Bank and Trust Building

First National Bank and Trust Building (Lima, Ohio)

The First National Bank and Trust Building is a historic building on Public Square in downtown Lima, Ohio, United States.This rectangular building, completed in 1926, was designed by Weary and Alford, an architectural firm from Chicago. It was the location of the offices of the First National Bank...

.

Historic landmark

In 1982, the Neal Clothing Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 because of its historic architecture. Sixteen other downtown buildings, all newer, were added to the Register at the same time as part of the "Lima Multiple Resource Area," a collection of architecturally-significant buildings.