{"nrhp_refnum":"01000928","name":"Harris Building","other_names":["Laird, Schober &amp","Co."],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2121-41 Market St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.952697509000075,"lon":-75.17861886599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-08-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Industry","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eight-story reinforced concrete commercial and factory building with an L-shaped footprint at the northeast corner of N. 22nd and Market Streets in western downtown Philadelphia, constructed in 1914-15.","why_significant":"The building is locally significant for government use as the first parcel post station in Philadelphia, shortly after Congress authorized parcel post in 1912, and for its association with the shoe manufacturer Laird, Schober & Company. It is also significant in engineering as an early example of reinforced concrete industrial construction designed by William Steele & Sons, with a flat-slab system using funnel-shaped column capitals.","narrative":"Built in 1914-15 on Market Street at the corner of 22nd Street, this eight-story reinforced concrete commercial and factory building was designed by William Steele & Sons, a Philadelphia firm known for industrial structures. Its Market Street and 22nd Street facades use brick and terra cotta with Neo-Classical organization, while the rear elevations are plain red brick. The first floor served as the Twenty-Second Street Parcel Post Station from 1915 to 1930, one of the earliest parcel post stations in the city after Congress authorized the service in 1912. The upper floors housed the Laird, Schober & Company shoe manufacturing business from shortly after completion until 1942. The flat-slab floors with funnel-shaped column capitals are cited as an early local use of this reinforced concrete technology. The building is listed for its government, industrial and engineering associations, and it remains vacant.","period_of_significance":"1914-1942","architect_builder":"William Steele & Sons Company","architectural_style":"no style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The building is presently vacant and owned privately; the original terra cotta cornice was removed in the 1980s.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.117022-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/01000928.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000928/e14e65f75e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000928/e14e65f75e-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harris_Building_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harris_Building_Philly.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"86000055","name":"Ramcat Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/ramcat-historic-district-86000055/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997514","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_Building_(Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5664803"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/harris-building-01000928/"}