{"nrhp_refnum":"12000374","name":"NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) Historic District","other_names":["114-5313"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Wythe Creek Rd., Commander Shepard Blvd., Brick Kiln Cr., & Langley AFB","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hampton (Independent City)","county":"Hampton","state":"VA","lat":37.09972027500007,"lon":-76.37363804080789,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-06-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Science","Engineering","Military","Communications","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A federal research campus of about 796 acres in Hampton, Virginia, made up of an East Area begun in 1917 and a West Area developed from the 1940s. It holds wind tunnels, laboratories, offices and support buildings built for the NACA and later NASA.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the district as the site of the first American civilian aeronautical laboratory, founded by the NACA in 1917. It later became NASA's Langley Research Center when NASA was created in 1958. The form certifies national significance. Its wind tunnels and specialized research facilities supported advances in aircraft design and space-related research.","narrative":"Sprawling across about 796 acres in Hampton, Virginia, this research campus began in 1917 when the War Department acquired land for joint Army and National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics use. The Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory became the country's first aeronautical laboratory and its only civilian one until 1939. As research outgrew the original East Area, a larger West Area was laid out from 1939 and filled with wind tunnels, laboratories and support buildings. Early buildings are red brick in a stripped classical style, while later space-era structures use blond brick and poured concrete in International and Brutalist modes. Notable resources include the Full Scale Tunnel of 1931, the Lunar Landing Research Gantry of 1965 and the Landing Loads Track of 1956. The laboratory became NASA's Langley Research Center in 1958. The district counts 149 contributing and 97 noncontributing resources and is certified as nationally significant for its role in American aeronautics and space research.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Albert Kahn (street and block layout of Langley Field; many Langley Field buildings)","architectural_style":"Stripped Classicism, Industrial; Modern Movement/International Style, Brutalism","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still an active research center, with construction ongoing in the West Area. Some resources have been demolished, including the Low Turbulence Pressure Tunnel circuit.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.791014-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/6811/41681131/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/12000374.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000374/99ec599632-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000374/99ec599632-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"NASA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acting_Director_at_the_Langley_Research_Center_Trina_M._Dyal.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">NASA</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acting_Director_at_the_Langley_Research_Center_Trina_M._Dyal.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681131","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langley_Research_Center","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q618731"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/hampton/nasa-langley-research-center-larc-historic-district-12000374/"}