{"nrhp_refnum":"78001003","name":"Augusta Cotton Exchange Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Reynolds St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Augusta","county":"Richmond County","state":"GA","lat":33.476661327000045,"lon":-81.96449064099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-07-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick commercial building on a rusticated daylight basement on Reynolds Street in Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia, built in the mid-1880s to house the Augusta Cotton Exchange.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a monument to Augusta's commercial development and its cotton trade, which long formed the city's economic base. It is described as a High Victorian building with ornate brick, stone and cast iron detailing, and it remains a notable architectural example despite the loss of its mansard roof. Its original trading-room furnishings still link it to the time when cotton dominated the city.","narrative":"Built in the mid-1880s on Reynolds Street in Augusta, this two-story brick building with a rusticated basement served as the home of the Augusta Cotton Exchange, organized by local merchants in 1872. A round corner turret sits above an entrance with a cast iron Corinthian column, and the iron elements were cast in 1886 by the Lombard foundry in Augusta. Brick pilasters, corbelling, horseshoe arches and stone trim give the facades a High Victorian character. A 1912 photograph shows a mansard roof and dormers that have since been lost, when the building blended French Second Empire and Queen Anne styles. The building matters because cotton was the foundation of Augusta's economy, and the city was once among the largest inland cotton markets in the world. Although the exchange stopped operating in 1964, merchants still keep an office here, and original price blackboards, phone booths and a Western Union counter survive in the main room, where a youth group now meets.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"High Victorian (originally a blend of French Second Empire and Queen Anne)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Rated in good condition and altered; the original mansard roof and dormered windows are lost. A small cotton merchants' office remains in use, and a youth group meets in the main room.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:41.129896-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/78001003.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001003/92ade0e097-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001003/92ade0e097-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Annalisa.frazier","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Augusta_Cotton_Exchange_Building_3.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Annalisa.frazier</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:Augusta_Cotton_Exchange_Building_3.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"04000515","name":"Augusta Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/augusta-downtown-historic-district-04000515/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209341","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_Cotton_Exchange_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16822071"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/richmond-county/augusta-cotton-exchange-building-78001003/"}