{"nrhp_refnum":"12001271","name":"Seaboard Air Line Railway Building","other_names":["The Wainwright Building","Vdhr # 122-0060-0210"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"221-229 W. Bute St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Norfolk (Independent City)","county":"Norfolk","state":"VA","lat":36.85473169900007,"lon":-76.29129256899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2013-02-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A nine-story reinforced concrete office building at the corner of West Bute and Duke Streets in Norfolk, Virginia, built in 1925-26 as headquarters for the Seaboard Air Line Railway. Neff and Thompson of Norfolk designed it in the late Gothic Revival style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the only large-scale commercial example of late Gothic Revival architecture in Norfolk and Tidewater Virginia, and an early reinforced concrete skyscraper in the city. It is also significant as the purpose-built headquarters of the Seaboard Air Line Railway. It is one of the most important commissions of the regional firm Neff and Thompson.","narrative":"Rising nine stories at West Bute and Duke Streets in Norfolk, this office building was completed in 1925-26 as the general headquarters of the Seaboard Air Line Railway. Neff and Thompson, a regional architecture and engineering firm, designed it in the late Gothic Revival style, using a reinforced concrete frame clad in textured yellow brick with limestone arches at street level and a crenellated-looking parapet. Inside, the lobby keeps a ribbed-vault-style plaster ceiling, granite walls and floor, and historic brass doors and elevators. The building cost about $750,000 and was the third tallest in the city when finished. It is described as the only large-scale non-religious Gothic Revival building in Norfolk and Tidewater Virginia, and an early local concrete skyscraper. It also marks the railway's consolidation of offices from three other buildings. After the railway left, it continued as offices and took the Wainwright name before World War II. Original windows have been replaced, but the floor plan remains largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1926","architect_builder":"Neff and Thompson, architect; Nichols & Lindemann, general contractor","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals/Late Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Has served as an office building from construction to the present, retaining most of its defining historic features; known as the Wainwright Building.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.809916-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/6821/41682131/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/12001271.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12001271/c3d22926fe-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12001271/c3d22926fe-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cathy1763","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seaboard_Air_Line_Railway_Building_AKA_Wainwright_Building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Cathy1763</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seaboard_Air_Line_Railway_Building_AKA_Wainwright_Building.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"14000529","name":"Norfolk Auto Row Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/norfolk-auto-row-historic-district-14000529/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682131","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaboard_Air_Line_Railway_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16899886"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/norfolk/seaboard-air-line-railway-building-12001271/"}