{"nrhp_refnum":"79000706","name":"Crane, Ross, House","other_names":["Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"247 Pulaski St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Athens","county":"Clarke County","state":"GA","lat":33.95848738600006,"lon":-83.38059534299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-06-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Greek Revival brick house at 247 Pulaski Street in Athens, Clarke County, Georgia, built about 1842-44 by local architect-builder Ross Crane as his own home. It later served as an Elks lodge and is now a fraternity house.","why_significant":"The house is significant as the home of Ross Crane, a leading Athens building contractor, who designed and built it at the high point of his career. It shows his command of the popular Greek Revival style and served as a showplace for his work. Its later reuse as an Elks lodge and then a fraternity house is cited as adaptive use.","narrative":"Built in the early 1840s at the western end of Washington Street in Athens, Georgia, this two-story brick house was designed and built by Ross Crane as his own residence. Crane, a New Jersey native who arrived in Athens around 1830, became a leading local building contractor, and he later built the James Hamilton residence and the First Presbyterian Church. The house has a six-columned, flat-roofed portico with tapered square columns, a symmetrical five-bay facade, a fluted-pilaster entrance with sidelights, and a balcony with a diamond-patterned railing. Walls are load-bearing brick. Side wings added in the 1930s and interior changes altered the original form, though the central block and portico still dominate. After Crane's death the property passed through several owners, including the Marks family, then the Elks lodge, and in 1929 a Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter. It was listed as an example of Greek Revival design and a builder's showplace.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Ross Crane","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by a fraternity and used as a dormitory for members and as a site for meetings and social gatherings; interior altered and side wings added in the 1930s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.229478-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/79000706.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000706/7841742426-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000706/7841742426-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Gwringle","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ross_Crane_House,_c._1842,_photographer_facing_SW.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Gwringle</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:Ross_Crane_House,_c._1842,_photographer_facing_SW.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207448","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134286723"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/clarke-county/crane-ross-house-79000706/"}