{"nrhp_refnum":"08000774","name":"Liberty Warehouse Nos. 1 and 2","other_names":["Liberty Warehouse No. 3","Liberty Warehouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"611-613 Rigsbee Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Durham","county":"Durham County","state":"NC","lat":35.84115728100005,"lon":-78.90487952799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-08-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A frame tobacco auction warehouse at 611-613 Rigsbee Avenue on the north side of downtown Durham, North Carolina. The south half (No. 1) was built in 1938 and the north half (No. 2) in 1948.","why_significant":"It is the only surviving historic downtown loose-leaf tobacco auction warehouse in Durham, once part of a district of such buildings along Rigsbee Avenue. It is significant under Criteria A and C in Commerce and Architecture. It retains good integrity and shows the traits of the type: a vast open auction floor, skylights, drive-in ramps, and farmer-oriented offices, banks and cafes.","narrative":"Liberty Warehouse Nos. 1 and 2 is a large frame tobacco auction warehouse on Rigsbee Avenue in downtown Durham. The south half was built in 1938 for partners Frank Satterfield and S. Walker Stone, and a matching north half followed in 1948. Brick veneer on the later section makes the building look like two, though inside there is a single open auction floor under low gabled roofs, massive timber columns and skylights. The building is set into a sloping lot, so a ramp lets vehicles drive through it, and it holds offices, bank branch space and viewing galleries once used by farmers selling leaf. It was once one of many loose-leaf auction houses along Rigsbee Avenue, but it is now the only one left downtown, since the last auctions there ended in the 1980s. Its importance lies in its link to Durham's tobacco commerce and in its intact example of a distinctive building type. Today it still serves mainly as a warehouse.","period_of_significance":"1938-1958","architect_builder":"Harris, I. G., builder","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used primarily as a warehouse, with businesses in the Foster Street storefronts and a bronze-casting studio; auctions ended in the 1980s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:53.834019-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/11/7177/47717711/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/08000774.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000774/b933802c4d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000774/b933802c4d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Maria Miracoli","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Liberty_Warehouse,_Durham_NC.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Maria Miracoli</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:Liberty_Warehouse,_Durham_NC.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717711","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Warehouse_Nos._1_and_2","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19986786"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/durham-county/liberty-warehouse-nos-1-and-2-08000774/"}