{"nrhp_refnum":"05000472","name":"Whitesel Brothers","other_names":["115-5048"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"131 W. Grace St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Harrisonburg (Independent City)","county":"Harrisonburg","state":"VA","lat":38.44519584500006,"lon":-78.87751666999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-05-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick warehouse at 131 West Grace Street in Harrisonburg, Virginia, built in 1939 for a farm implement business, with an addition from between 1939 and 1948 and a later addition built after 1961.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a fine example of Late Depression era warehouse architecture under Criterion C. It cites the oak and steel arched truss roof, structural brick walls and intact mechanical systems such as the counterweight freight elevator and weighted pulley doors. It also notes the farm implement firm's role linking city and rural Rockingham County.","narrative":"Located at the corner of West Grace Street and Chesapeake Avenue in Harrisonburg, this two-story red brick warehouse was built in 1939 for the Whitesel farm implement business. Frank Whitesel and his brother Lynwood bought the lot in 1938 and financed construction with a life insurance loan and a family loan, which was repaid by 1948. The walls are structural brick laid in Flemish and American bond, and the second floor has an exposed arched roof truss made of oak with steel supports. Inside, a counterweight freight elevator that predates the building still operates, and heavy doors close themselves through weights and pulleys. A repair shop addition followed in the 1940s, and a concrete block addition came after 1961; only the original building and the first addition are treated as architecturally important. The designer and builder are unknown, though one account credits a Mennonite craftsman. The building is valued as an unusually intact example of Depression era warehouse construction in the city.","period_of_significance":"1939-1948","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"OTHER: Late Depression Era Building","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a warehouse; a business occupies the first floor, and the interior is described as not dramatically altered from its original plans.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.340962-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/6812/41681202/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/05000472.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000472/da274e40d6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000472/da274e40d6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WHITESEL_BROTHERS_WAREHOUSE,_HARRISONBURG,_VA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</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:WHITESEL_BROTHERS_WAREHOUSE,_HARRISONBURG,_VA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681202","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitesel_Brothers","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16903237"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/harrisonburg/whitesel-brothers-05000472/"}