{"nrhp_refnum":"78002446","name":"Drake Hotel","other_names":["The Drake"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1512--1514 Spruce St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.94703846400006,"lon":-75.16707337699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-09-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A twenty-four-story steel-frame apartment hotel on a narrow corner lot at Spruce and Hicks streets in Philadelphia, rising to a domed tower about 329 feet above the street. It was built in 1928-29.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the hotel is one of Philadelphia's finest and most colorful examples of Art Deco, and that it is unusual for merging Spanish Baroque details with standard Art Deco ornament. It was the tallest building in the city when built and has been a center-city landmark for half a century. The nomination states its greatest significance lies in its architecture.","narrative":"Built in 1928-29 at the corner of Spruce and Hicks streets in Philadelphia, the Drake Hotel is a twenty-four-story steel-frame building that rises to a central domed tower about 329 feet above the street. Designed by Ritter and Shay, it was built as an apartment hotel with 753 rooms, including 295 apartments, and was constructed by Murphy, Quigley & Co. Its facade combines terra cotta ornament on Pompeiian brick walls, with Spanish Baroque window frames, dolphin-and-shell motifs and sixteenth-century sailing vessel medallions that refer to Sir Francis Drake. The nomination regards it as one of the most distinctive Art Deco buildings in Philadelphia, because it fuses Baroque motifs such as volutes, urns and dome with the zigzag and set-back forms of Art Deco. When built it was the tallest building in the city, and it has remained a downtown landmark for decades. Its interior lobby and cocktail lounge, the Sir Francis Room, carry the same Baroque treatment.","period_of_significance":"1928-29","architect_builder":"Ritter and Shay (architects); Murphy, Quigley & Co. (builders)","architectural_style":"Art Deco with Spanish Baroque ornament","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The document describes the building as in use as a hotel, with ground-floor shops closed in 1944 and a 1954 ballroom extension and stainless steel marquee.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.992996-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/78002446.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002446/a70a5c24a4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002446/a70a5c24a4-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drake_Hotel_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drake_Hotel_Philly.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"84003563","name":"Washington Square West Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/washington-square-west-historic-district-84003563/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997124","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_Hotel_(Philadelphia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5305605"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/drake-hotel-78002446/"}