{"nrhp_refnum":"75000594","name":"Odd Fellows Building and Auditorium","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"228-250 Auburn Ave., NE","address_restricted":false,"city":"Atlanta","county":"Fulton County","state":"GA","lat":33.75570931800007,"lon":-84.37949552399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-05-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of two steel-frame, red-brick buildings on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia: a six-story office building and an adjacent two-story auditorium and store building, built 1911-1913 for the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows.","why_significant":"The complex stands in the heart of Atlanta's historic black business community on \"Sweet Auburn\" and symbolizes that community's achievements. It was designed by a white architect, built by a prominent black contractor, and funded by Odd Fellows contributions across Georgia. Terra cotta and stone heads with clearly Black features on the office building express racial pride at an early date.","narrative":"Rising from Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, this complex pairs a six-story office building with a two-story auditorium and store building. Both are steel-frame structures faced in dark red brick, with stone and terra cotta trim in a modified Jacobethan style. The office building follows a Sullivanesque skyscraper form, and its most distinctive features are stone and terra cotta heads with clearly Black features. Construction began in 1911 for the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, using money raised from Odd Fellows lodges across Georgia. William A. Edwards drew the plans, and Robert A. Pharrow's Black-owned contracting firm built it. The auditorium followed the next year and later housed a movie theater. The drug store on the corner was one of the city's oldest Black businesses. The complex anchors the Auburn Avenue business district, known as \"Sweet Auburn\", and reflects the pride and enterprise of Atlanta's Black community in the early twentieth century.","period_of_significance":"1912, 1913","architect_builder":"Architect William A. Edwards; built by Robert A. Pharrow's company","architectural_style":"Modified Jacobethan (Jacobethan Revival) commercial style with Sullivanesque skyscraper form","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in fair condition; the original roof garden was destroyed by fire in 1934.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.79369-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/75000594.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000594/d139b57fad-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000594/d139b57fad-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Historic American Buildings Survey, creator; David J. Kaminsky, photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HABS-ATL-OFBA-570648cr.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Historic American Buildings Survey, creator; David J. Kaminsky, photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HABS-ATL-OFBA-570648cr.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208280","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd_Fellows_Building_and_Auditorium","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7077339"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/fulton-county/odd-fellows-building-and-auditorium-75000594/"}