{"nrhp_refnum":"03001275","name":"Grinnell Company-General Fire Extinquisher Company Complex","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1431 W. Morehead St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charlotte","county":"Mecklenburg County","state":"NC","lat":35.228522912000074,"lon":-80.86638663299993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-12-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An industrial complex at 1431 West Morehead Street, southwest of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, with a two-story office building (1929) and a large one-story manufacturing building (1930) built for the Grinnell Company.","why_significant":"It is locally significant under Criterion A for industry, as an example of the manufacturing and distribution facilities that made Charlotte the leading industrial center of the Carolinas and supplied the Piedmont textile industry. It is significant under Criterion C for architecture, for its steel-framed, sawtooth-roofed factory and its post-World War I site layout. It is one of only seven surviving pre-World War II industrial or warehouse properties on West Morehead Street.","narrative":"Built in 1929 and 1930 for the Grinnell Company, the largest North American maker of automatic sprinklers and other fire protection products, this two-building complex sits on West Morehead Street southwest of downtown Charlotte. A two-story brick office building with restrained classical detailing faces the street. Behind it, a massive one-story factory stretches along the former Piedmont and Northern Railway line. The factory has a steel frame, heavy Pratt roof trusses, continuous steel sash windows and sawtooth monitors that light a vast open floor. Greenville, South Carolina, architect J. E. Sirrine designed the complex. It was listed for its role in Charlotte's industrial growth, when textile mills created demand for fire protection equipment, and for its architecture, which shows early twentieth century factory design and an efficient layout of detached, one-story buildings. Only seven pre-World War II industrial or warehouse properties remain on the street. Grinnell operated here until 1999, and the buildings have since been rehabilitated as offices.","period_of_significance":"1929-1953","architect_builder":"Sirrine, J.E.","architectural_style":"Manufacturing Building: Industrial; Office Building: Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century American Movements: Commercial Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Grinnell closed its Charlotte operation in 1999. The property has undergone a certified rehabilitation for office use, and the exterior is largely unchanged.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:53.276225-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/80/7213/47721380/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/03001275.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001275/833eef64f4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001275/833eef64f4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Bagatar","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grinnell_Company.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bagatar</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:Grinnell_Company.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721380","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grinnell_Company-General_Fire_Extinguisher_Company_Complex","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19462098"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/mecklenburg-county/grinnell-company-general-fire-extinquisher-company-complex-03001275/"}