{"nrhp_refnum":"03000917","name":"Flat Iron Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1441-1449 Emerald Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago Heights","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.50442250000003,"lon":-87.63473395199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-09-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, triangular flatiron commercial building at 1441-1449 Emerald Avenue in Chicago Heights, Cook County, Illinois, built in 1925 as an automobile showroom and repair shop with apartments above.","why_significant":"It is argued to be locally significant under Criterion A for Commerce as a 1920s upscale automobile \"sales palace\" that housed dealerships from 1925 to 1951. It also meets Criterion C for Architecture as a fine example of Spanish Baroque Revival styling and of a two-part commercial flatiron building. It is one of two surviving classical revival commercial buildings in the former business district.","narrative":"Built in 1925 at the junction of Emerald Avenue, Fifteenth Street and Halsted Street in Chicago Heights, this triangular flatiron building was designed as an automobile showroom and repair shop, with two apartments planned above the showroom. Its brick walls carry mottled coral terra cotta ornament made locally, including pilasters, griffins, owls, urns and a round-arched corner entrance in Spanish Baroque Revival style. Inside, the showroom retains a decorative metal ceiling and mosaic tile floor with Greek Key borders. The rear single-story garage once held the repair area. The building housed automobile dealerships from 1925 to 1951, including the Scoonover and Wehrmann firm and later the Wehrmann Motor Company, and it reflects the prosperity of the 1920s and the city's role as a commercial center near the Lincoln and Dixie highways. It is now vacant. Recent work repaired the terra cotta, restored the second-floor windows and replaced the roof over the two-story section, while the rear garage roof is failing.","period_of_significance":"1925 - 1951","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Spanish Baroque","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant and awaiting complete renovation; the two-story portion is in sound condition after tuckpointing, terra cotta repair and a new roof, while the rear garage roof is collapsing.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.771353-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/57/8925/28892557/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/03000917.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000917/644f246333-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000917/644f246333-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jon Roanhaus","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flat_Iron_Building_NRHP_03000917_Cook_County,_IL.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jon Roanhaus</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flat_Iron_Building_NRHP_03000917_Cook_County,_IL.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892557","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Iron_Building_(Chicago_Heights,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5457761"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/flat-iron-building-03000917/"}