{"nrhp_refnum":"03001415","name":"McDermott Motors Building","other_names":["Fort Fiske Wright"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1125 Washington Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waco","county":"McLennan County","state":"TX","lat":31.552385121000043,"lon":-97.13915586199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-01-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story concrete and brick commercial building at 1125 Washington Avenue in Waco, McLennan County, Texas, designed in 1928 for a Buick dealership by Waco architect Milton W. Scott.","why_significant":"The building is argued to be significant locally under Criterion A for Commerce and Military history, as a car dealership, a National Guard armory known as Fort Fiske Wright, and a World War II B-24 parts assembly site. It is also significant under Criterion C as a distinctive example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture with Stripped Classical and Art Deco influences.","narrative":"Built in 1928 at 1125 Washington Avenue in Waco, this two-story reinforced concrete building was designed by local architect Milton W. Scott for Wilford Dees McDermott's Buick dealership. Its buff tapestry brick walls, terra cotta detail, red tile roofline, arched transom windows and copper entrance canopy combine Spanish Colonial Revival style with Stripped Classical and Art Deco touches. The dealership failed by 1930, and from 1931 the local National Guard leased the building as an armory called Fort Fiske Wright, which also served as a social gathering place during the Depression. Beginning in late 1943, North American Aviation used it to assemble B-24 bomber parts, with about 100 workers, most of them women. Later occupants included car dealers, a printer, a gift company and a charity thrift store. A fire in April 2000 caused smoke and water damage but left the structure intact. The building is valued for its commercial and military history and its architecture.","period_of_significance":"1928-1953","architect_builder":"Milton W. Scott","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals/Spanish Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Fire damaged in April 2000 but structurally sound; being converted to retail space and apartments through the Tax Rehabilitation Credit program.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.770162-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/7/9730/40973007/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/03001415.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001415/85e98de4b0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001415/85e98de4b0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Michael Barera","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waco_June_2016_32_(Hole_in_the_Roof_Marketing,_Inc.).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael Barera</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waco_June_2016_32_(Hole_in_the_Roof_Marketing,_Inc.).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"11001094","name":"Waco Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/waco-downtown-historic-district-11001094/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973007","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110002279"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/mclennan-county/mcdermott-motors-building-03001415/"}