{"nrhp_refnum":"78002335","name":"Burke Building","other_names":["Meyer Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"209-211 4th Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.44005578700006,"lon":-80.00239602599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-09-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Burke Building is a three-story, five-bay brick building with a stone ashlar facade in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1836 by the Burke brothers, Robert and Andrew.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is unique in Pittsburgh as the city's first office building and as the last monumental Greek Revival building surviving in Allegheny County. Its symmetrical facade, Doric-columned entrance and sophisticated design are presented as comparable to European and eastern seaboard work of the same period. It also survived the Great Fire of 1845 and has associations with the Denny Estate and the Western Savings Bank.","narrative":"Built in 1836 in Pittsburgh by the brothers Robert and Andrew Burke, the three-story brick building has a stone ashlar facade of five bays. A slightly projecting central bay is capped by a pediment that is echoed by the ground-floor entrance, which is framed by two Doric columns supporting an entablature. Decorative elements include rusticated ground-story stonework, coupled wreaths over the entrance, and an anthemion on the second-story central lintel. John Chislett, whose office opened in Pittsburgh in 1833, designed the building. It is regarded as the city's first office building and as the last monumental Greek Revival structure surviving in Allegheny County. It escaped the Great Fire of 1845, which destroyed the nearby Bank of Pittsburgh. The building later served as headquarters for the Denny Estate and as banking quarters for the Western Savings Bank. Interior modernization around 1900 added an Edwardian oak staircase, which remains intact.","period_of_significance":"1836","architect_builder":"John Chislett (architect)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored in part since 1974, with some windows, roof and gutters repaired and interior stair restoration underway; currently houses restaurant, antique shop, entertainment and office tenants.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.569627-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/78002335.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002335/8ff9a260da-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002335/8ff9a260da-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burke_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burke_Building.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"13000248","name":"Firstside Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/firstside-historic-district-boundary-increase-13000248/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997652","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4998927"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/burke-building-78002335/"}