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The Newcastle Commercial District is eligible under Criterion A because it is related to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century growth and commercial development of the City of Newcastle, the county seat of Weston County. West Main Street (U.S. Route 16), around which the commercial district was built, became the original route of the Black and Yellow Trail, one of America’s first transcontinental auto highways. This major transportation route that connected the Midwest to Yellowstone National Park brought tourist and commercial traffic to the county and city, all of which added significantly to Newcastle’s economy. The commercial district of Newcastle suffered from a number of devastating fires, which resulted in the loss of several buildings. However, these fires are also an important facet of the history of Newcastle, and succeeding eras of economic growth resulted in the construction of new commercial buildings to fill the voids. The last significant growth occurred during the oil boom period of the 1940s and early 1950s. The Newcastle Commercial District is also eligible under Criterion C because the buildings in the district represent a wide array of architectural styles from Late Victorian Italianate commercial buildings to Streamline Moderne, Neo-Classical, Beaux-Arts, and Mission influences. Many are well preserved and retain good exterior physical integrity. The Newcastle Commercial District retains the flavor of a small early-to-mid twentieth century American downtown with a concentration of diverse commercial and public buildings clustered along its main street. Large commercial chains, plazas, and strip malls have not encroached on the vital downtown, and modern infill has been eliminated by careful drawing of the district boundary.