ABOUT

Location

The North Hill Historic District is a residential neighborhood in New Castle, Pennsylvania that was entered into the National Register on December 15, 1999. It is located just north of New Castle’s central business district and is roughly bound by Hillcrest Ave. and Fairmont Ave. to the north; Delaware Ave. and Neshannock Ave. to the east; Crescent Street and Falls Street to the south; and Beaver Street, Jefferson Street, and Mercer Street to the west. (Refer to a map here.)

Historical Importance

The development of this residence is indicative of the growth in manufacturing, particularly from railroad, tin, and steel industries between 1870 and 1930. The residence in the North Hill represents upper and middle-management residences during this time, with 80% of buildings built between 1890 and 1949. In this listed property, there are private and public-local holders of 1,888 buildings and an historic structure — a concrete girder bridge on Boyles Avenue in 1916, but which has since been demolished. Represented in this distinct are architectural styles of the late 19th and early 20th-century American Movements, Late Victorian, and Revival. Predominant styles include: Bungalow/Craftsman, American Foursquare, Victorian Folk, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Neoclassical and Tudor Revival. Much of the original architectural ornamentation, i.e. columns, spindles, siding, dentil molding, slate roofs, ceramic porch floors, doors, windows, chimneys and towers survives.

Residency

Prominent business owners built their homes in the Lower North Hill between 1870 and 1930. For example, a Lower North Hill, upper class home, is the Henderson residence with patterned masonry in the Queen Anne style. Built for Mathias Holstein Henderson, vice president of Lawrence Savings and Trust in 1895, the home is located at the crest of Highland Avenue at 131 E. Lincoln Avenue. 

By contrast, the Upper North Hill, located north of Wallace Avenue, developed as a middle management residence in the 1890s-1930s. A typical example of housing for these homeowners was created by the J. P. Watson Real Estate Co. in 1897: a speculative subdivision called Neshannock Heights on Winter, Leasure, Garfield, Highland, Albert and Delaware Avenues. Styles in the development include Craftsman, American Foursquare, and Queen Anne.

Architects

Notable architects who were a part of the district’s development include the W. G. Eckles Company Architects, designers for New Castle High School, a Neoclassical style building at 310 E. Lincoln Avenue in 1910-1911, and other c. 1920s academic facilities. Originally a Free Masons Lodge, the Scottish Rite Cathedral at 110-120 E. Lincoln Avenue was designed by R.G. Schmid Co. of Chicago, a regional architect, between 1924-1926. Notable residential architects made an impact on the lower North Hill development. S. W. Faulke (also spelled Foulk) was a great contributor, also well-known as a regional architect of Romanesque Revival style churches and YMCA buildings throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. His son, Frank H. Faulke, was hired in 1904 by tin mill developer, George Greer, to build a Colonial Revival residence at 408 North Jefferson Street. Additionally, one of the best representations of the this period was designed by Frank Faulke, the Alex Crawford Hoyt House, currently part of the Hoyt Art Center.