{"nrhp_refnum":"80004132","name":"Scanlan Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"405 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Houston","county":"Harris County","state":"TX","lat":29.76123148000005,"lon":-95.36137884199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Economics","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An 11-story office building with basement at 405 Main Street, at the corner of Main and Preston in Houston, Texas, completed in 1909 and designed by D.H. Burnham & Company of Chicago.","why_significant":"It is the only known office building in Texas designed by D.H. Burnham & Company and the first building of its size and style in Houston designed by a major national architect, setting a trend for commercial buildings downtown. It stands on the site of the first official White House of the Republic of Texas and is linked to the Scanlan family, notable in local politics, industry and Catholic charity.","narrative":"Rising eleven stories above Main and Preston in downtown Houston, this steel-frame office building opened on August 1, 1909. Chicago's D.H. Burnham & Company designed it in the Commercial Style, with light grey terra cotta and glazed brick facades, restrained classical ornament and an ell-shaped rear that brings light to the office floors. It was built for the daughters of Thomas Howe Scanlan, a former Houston mayor, waterworks president and real estate investor who planned the project in 1903. The site once held the first official White House of the Republic of Texas. At opening it was hailed as the largest building in the largest city in the largest state, and it is the only office building known to be completed by Burnham in Texas. Its scale encouraged taller competing buildings and drew lawyers, physicians, oil and insurance firms. Alterations include the removed cornice and replaced ground-floor storefronts, yet it remained in excellent condition and in commercial use.","period_of_significance":"1900-1999","architect_builder":"Burnham and Co., architect; B.H. Lichter and Co., contractor","architectural_style":"Commercial Style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in commercial use; an engineering study found it in excellent condition, with minor alterations including removal of the main cornice and replaced storefronts. The owner planned to restore the exterior facades.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.507499-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/9724/40972410/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/80004132.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004132/ba05ccb6fb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004132/ba05ccb6fb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scanlan_Building_(405_Main).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA</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:Scanlan_Building_(405_Main).JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83004471","name":"Main Street/Market Square Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/main-street-market-square-historic-district-83004471/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972410","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanlan_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21016163"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/harris-county/scanlan-building-80004132/"}