{"nrhp_refnum":"02000063","name":"Social Service Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"311 S. Juniper St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.94605321200004,"lon":-75.16297381099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-02-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A ten-story brick office building at 311 South Juniper Street in Philadelphia, constructed 1923-1924 and designed by Horace Trumbauer to house private welfare agencies.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building gives architectural form to the rise of professional private charitable work in early twentieth-century Philadelphia, funded by the city's elite. It is also presented as a work by a prominent architect with a national practice, with a Federal Revival design and well-preserved exterior and public spaces.","narrative":"Built in 1923-1924 on South Juniper Street in Philadelphia, the ten-story brick building was designed by Horace Trumbauer and George A. Fuller Company built it. Its red brick walls, limestone trim and terra cotta cornice reflect the Federal Revival style, and its marble-clad lobby signals a public character. The building was planned to hold the offices of the Children's Aid Society, the Society for Organizing Charity and other private welfare agencies, with a 500-seat auditorium and a shared library and boardrooms on the top floor. By 1929 more than thirty welfare organizations occupied it. The nomination regards it as a physical record of how private charity became professional in early twentieth-century Philadelphia, and as a major commission for Trumbauer, whose practice was national. Its founders intended the fireproof steel frame to protect agency records, and the entrance design was meant to affirm the dignity of staff and clients alike.","period_of_significance":"1923-c.1951","architect_builder":"Horace Trumbauer (architect); George A. Fuller Company (builder)","architectural_style":"Federal Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Windows replaced with aluminum sash in the 1970s-1980s; first floor auditorium converted to a daycare center in the 1980s; sold in 1998.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.933051-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/02000063.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000063/6ffc4024f0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000063/6ffc4024f0-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Social_Services_Building_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Social_Services_Building_Philly.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"84003563","name":"Washington Square West Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/washington-square-west-historic-district-84003563/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997548","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Service_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7550841"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/social-service-building-02000063/"}