{"nrhp_refnum":"73001372","name":"Briggs Hardware Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"220 Fayetteville St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake County","state":"NC","lat":35.77755809300004,"lon":-78.63952211399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-10-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick commercial building at 220 Fayetteville Street in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, four stories at the front and three at the rear. It was completed in 1874 and houses Briggs Hardware.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the only nineteenth-century commercial building on Raleigh's main street that survives essentially unchanged. Its red brick facade with bold metal trim, along with continuous business use and family ownership, makes it one of the city's important architectural and historic landmarks.","narrative":"Briggs Hardware Building, at 220 Fayetteville Street in Raleigh, is a brick commercial block four stories tall at the front and three at the rear, running through the block between two streets. Thomas H. Briggs opened his hardware business on the site in 1865 in a smaller building. A new building was begun in 1872 and finished in 1874, a date recorded in the parapet inscription. The facade features vermiculated quoins, molded window surrounds with lion's head hoodmolds, a curvilinear pediment and large urns. Inside, a pressed tin ceiling and a wooden arcaded balustrade survive on the first floor, along with skylights and original stairs. The ground floor was fitted with a glass storefront in 1915. The nomination values the building as the only essentially unchanged nineteenth-century commercial structure on Raleigh's main street. It also notes that the business has stayed in the Briggs family and downtown, while upper floors have housed groups such as the Oak City Guard and the city's first YMCA.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1874)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in good condition, altered, on its original site, occupied and in commercial use as a hardware and toy store still run by the Briggs family.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.425262-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/19/7225/47722519/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/73001372.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001372/da9edb7f3c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001372/da9edb7f3c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jmturner","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Briggs-Hardware-Building-20080321.jpeg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jmturner</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Briggs-Hardware-Building-20080321.jpeg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"07001412","name":"Fayetteville Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/fayetteville-street-historic-district-07001412/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722519","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briggs_Hardware_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4967260"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wake-county/briggs-hardware-building-73001372/"}