{"nrhp_refnum":"02001427","name":"Lorraine Apartments","other_names":["Lorraine Hotel","Divine Lorraine Hotel"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"699 N. Broad St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.966690146000076,"lon":-75.16003690599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-11-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Black","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A ten-story Late Victorian steel-framed apartment building on North Broad Street at Fairmount and Ridge Avenues in North Philadelphia, built 1892-1893, later used as the Lorraine Hotel and then the Divine Lorraine Hotel, with a detached six-story red brick rear service annex.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is one of the most luxurious and best preserved late nineteenth-century apartment houses in Philadelphia, a major work by architect Willis G. Hale, and a notable example of early high-rise apartment living. It also cites its use from 1948 by Father Divine's Divine Peace Mission as an interracial hotel and center of civil rights and social welfare activity, which it regards as the basis for significance under the social and ethnic history areas.","narrative":"Built in 1892-1893 on North Broad Street at Fairmount Avenue, the ten-story steel-framed Lorraine Apartments was designed by Willis G. Hale for a stock company of Philadelphia and New York investors. Its gray-tan Pompeian brick front, marble portico with a knight figure atop the pediment, and bay windows gave it a monumental presence, and its interior light court was bridged by brick arches at the fifth and ninth floors. Suites of parlors, dining rooms, and bedrooms were planned around central bathrooms, and kitchens in the basement served meals to residents. The building was converted to the Lorraine Hotel in 1900. From 1948 it was operated by Father Divine's Divine Peace Mission as an interracial hotel, and its tenth-floor halls were used for worship. The building is regarded as one of the best preserved examples of late nineteenth-century high-rise apartment housing in the city.","period_of_significance":"1892-1952","architect_builder":"Hale, Willis G. (architect and head of stock company that developed the building); George F. Payne & Co (contractor)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Operated as the Divine Lorraine Hotel by the Divine Peace Mission from 1948; the nomination describes the early 1900s hotel as remaining a hotel until 1999.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:37.728687-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/02001427.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001427/30a54bf446-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001427/30a54bf446-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lorraine_Hotel_Broad_St_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lorraine_Hotel_Broad_St_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997294","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Lorraine_Hotel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5284100"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/lorraine-apartments-02001427/"}