{"nrhp_refnum":"79001763","name":"Giddens, L. D., and Son Jewelry Store","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"135 S. Center St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Goldsboro","county":"Wayne County","state":"NC","lat":35.38242706500006,"lon":-83.99827621099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-03-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick commercial building at 135 South Center Street in Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, built probably between 1839 and 1847. It has housed the L. D. Giddens and Son jewelry store since the business was founded in 1859.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the oldest continuous business in Goldsboro and possibly the oldest jewelry store in North Carolina. Its facade keeps cast-iron ornamentation typical of nineteenth-century commercial architecture. A freestanding street clock erected in 1877 is believed to be the last of its kind in the state. The store is also tied to the Giddens family, early Goldsboro settlers who kept the business for several generations.","narrative":"Jewelry has been sold at 135 South Center Street in Goldsboro since 1859, when Louis Devereaux Giddens took over an existing shop in a brick building probably dating from the 1840s. The business is described as the oldest continuous one in the city and possibly the oldest jewelry store in North Carolina. The facade combines red brick, large glass display windows, a leaded glass transom bearing the Giddens name, and cast-iron pilasters and cornice added in renovations around 1870, 1926 and 1959. At the curb stands a wooden-post street clock erected in 1877 and electrified in 1924, believed to be the last of its type in the state. Inside, mahogany show tables and wall cases remain. The store survived a 1948 fire next door, and it has passed through the Giddens family and their descendants. The listing recognizes its role in Goldsboro's commerce, its family continuity and its cast-iron architecture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Nineteenth-century commercial architecture with cast-iron facade elements","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Described as occupied, in good condition and altered; the store remained in business at the time of nomination, with the second floor used for storage.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.104451-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/11/7228/47722811/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/79001763.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001763/c0426cfe0d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001763/c0426cfe0d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Msgt programmer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LDGiddens_interior.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Msgt programmer</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:LDGiddens_interior.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722811","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._D._Giddens_and_Son_Jewelry_Store","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20708757"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wayne-county/giddens-l-d-and-son-jewelry-store-79001763/"}