{"nrhp_refnum":"07000892","name":"Beaumont Commercial District (Boundary Increase)","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Willow, Neches, Gilber and Main Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Beaumont","county":"Jefferson County","state":"TX","lat":30.08286958350007,"lon":-94.09854681796914,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-03-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A boundary and period-of-significance increase to the Beaumont Commercial District, a downtown business district in Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas, first listed in 1978. The increase adds three areas with ten buildings, dating from the 1920s to the 1960s, to a district of 67 buildings.","why_significant":"The amendment extends the period of significance to 1958 and adds a second period, 1962-1963, to cover the 1963 First Security National Bank, described as exceptionally significant mid-century modern architecture. It also adds buildings tied to the city's African-American business community and to 1940s growth, and it re-evaluates the status of earlier properties.","narrative":"Downtown Beaumont's commercial core gained ten more buildings through this boundary expansion, which also lengthens the district's timeline to 1958 and adds a second period, 1962-1963. The additions fall in three areas next to the original district and include shops, a department store, a parking garage and a church. Among them are the 1940 White House, a Streamline Moderne former department store, the Coale Building of about 1927, and the 1923 Antioch Baptist Church, which broaden the district's link to the city's African-American businesses and congregations. The centerpiece of the later period is the 1963 First Security National Bank, a five-story modernist building by Beaumont architects Pitts, Mebane & Phelps, with a sculptural concrete screen and glass walls. A 2005-2006 resurvey also revised the status of many earlier properties, counting buildings once judged too young or altered as contributing. The district reflects the city's timber, rice and oil-boom prosperity.","period_of_significance":"Through 1958, with a second period of 1962-1963","architect_builder":"Stone & Pitts (The White House); A. Babin (Antioch Baptist Church, Fertita Building); Llewellyn W. Pitts of Pitts, Mebane & Phelps (First Security National Bank)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th century revivals (Classical Revival, Gothic Revival, Beaux Arts); Modern Movement (Art Deco, Art Moderne, New Formalism); one-part and two-part commercial block","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Mixed: most buildings are in use for business, office, municipal court, museum and other functions. The Fertita Building is vacant. The First Security National Bank was vacant from 1993 to 2006 and is being rehabilitated and partially occupied.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.23983-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/88/9726/40972688/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/07000892.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000892/f9ca1dffec-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000892/f9ca1dffec-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Reagan Rothenberger","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crkstenh.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Reagan Rothenberger</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crkstenh.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"78002959","name":"Beaumont Commercial District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/beaumont-commercial-district-78002959/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972688","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_Commercial_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4877550"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/jefferson-county/beaumont-commercial-district-boundary-increase-07000892/"}