{"nrhp_refnum":"12000475","name":"American Grain Complex (Additional Documentation)","other_names":["Perot Malthouse","Perot Elevator"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"100 Childs St. aka 145 Buffalo River","address_restricted":false,"city":"Buffalo","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.86401310200006,"lon":-78.86396214899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-08-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Engineering","Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of grain elevator, flour mill, warehouse, office building and railroad tracks at 87 Childs Street on the Buffalo River in Buffalo, New York, built between 1905 and 1931 for malt and later flour production.","why_significant":"The complex is argued to be significant under Criterion A in industry, engineering and architecture as an intact record of Buffalo's grain transshipment, malting and flour milling. It includes the oldest surviving marine receiving equipment on the Buffalo waterfront and the first national example of continuous slip form concrete pour for an elevator. A 1963 pneumatic system made it the nation's largest pneumatic mill. It is also eligible under Criterion C for design that influenced pioneer modernist writers.","narrative":"Beside the Buffalo River on Childs Street, this industrial complex combines a concrete grain elevator, a flour mill and warehouse, an office building, a movable marine tower and a network of rail tracks. Construction came in phases: the elevator and malt house in 1905-1906 for the American Malting Company, a flour mill in 1924, and a large storage annex in 1931. The site first made malt for brewers, then switched to flour after Prohibition, later operating under Russell-Miller and Peavey and finally ConAgra until 2001. It is considered important for its role in moving Midwestern grain east by lake, rail and road. Its engineering firsts include the earliest national use of continuous slip-form concrete pouring in an elevator, the oldest surviving marine receiving equipment on the Buffalo waterfront, and a 1963 pneumatic system that made it the largest pneumatic mill in the country. The buildings are currently not in use.","period_of_significance":"1905-1963","architect_builder":"James Stewart & Company (mainhouse and fixed marine tower); J. W. Cowper of Boston (1924 flour mill); Monarch Engineering to the in-house design of H.R. Wait (1931 annex)","architectural_style":"No Style; Early 20th Century American commercial","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Flour production ended in 2001 when ConAgra abandoned the facility; it was purchased around 2006 and is currently not in use.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.201201-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/12000475.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000475/42a4e83d3e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000475/42a4e83d3e-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Grain_Complex_Apr_12.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Grain_Complex_Apr_12.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312797","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Grain_Complex","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14706157"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/american-grain-complex-additional-documentation-12000475/"}