{"nrhp_refnum":"78001873","name":"Macy, R. H., and Company Store","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"151 W. 34th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.75086944550006,"lon":-73.98920667000841,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-06-02","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1978-06-02","areas_of_significance":["Commerce"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"R. H. Macy and Company's Herald Square department store at 151 West 34th Street, New York City, occupying nearly the entire block between Broadway and Seventh Avenue. It was built in three sections between 1901 and 1924, with the original section designed by DeLemos & Cordes and built by the George A. Fuller Company.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Macy's store is the world's largest department store under one roof and has held that distinction since 1924. R. H. Macy helped pioneer the one-price system, innovative advertising and new merchandise lines. Retailing historians cite the firm as central to the story of the American department store.","narrative":"Covering almost an entire block at Herald Square, this Manhattan department store was built in stages: a 9-story steel-frame masonry section on the Broadway side in 1901-02, a one-story addition in 1910, and a 20-story section on the Seventh Avenue side in 1922-24. DeLemos & Cordes designed the first section and the George A. Fuller Company built it for about $4.8 million. Two small corner lots were never acquired by the firm. The exterior mixes stone, marble and brick, with hexagonal bays and arched windows on the Broadway side. Inside, crystal chandeliers, marble columns and stairs, and original Otis steel-and-mahogany escalators survive on the main selling floor. The property matters because R. H. Macy helped pioneer the one-price system, cash sales, heavy newspaper advertising and departmental organization, and the store has been the world's largest under one roof since 1924. Historians describe its story as a main chapter in American retailing.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900- (subject 1858-present; site 1901-present)","architect_builder":"DeLemos & Cordes (architects); George A. Fuller Co. (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a department store; the interior is described as little altered, and the company plans to remodel the interior while keeping basic decorative features.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.954288-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/78001873_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001873/23a5c9a097-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001873/23a5c9a097-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Mike Strand","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Macys_dep_store.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Mike Strand</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Macys_dep_store.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315902","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macy%27s_Herald_Square","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6725862"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/macy-r-h-and-company-store-78001873/"}