{"nrhp_refnum":"80004139","name":"Badu Building","other_names":["Carol Phelan Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"601 Bessemer Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Llano","county":"Llano County","state":"TX","lat":30.756783580000047,"lon":-98.67636798499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Exploration/Settlement","Science"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story native stone and brick commercial building at 601 Bessemer Avenue in Llano, Llano County, Texas, built in 1890 by the Llano Improvement and Furnace Company to house the First National Bank.","why_significant":"It is the last surviving building of its type from the planned north-side business district built during Llano's 1880s-1893 \"Boom Days\". It also has ties to N.J. Badu, a mineralogist who bought it in 1898 and discovered the rare \"opaline\" stone found only in Llano County. Its granite detailing is described as a distinctive vernacular form.","narrative":"Built in 1890 at 601 Bessemer Avenue in Llano, this two-story building of local grey granite and red brick was made for the First National Bank. The Llano Improvement and Furnace Company erected it as part of a planned business district on the north side of town during the mining-driven \"Boom Days,\" when Llano's population grew from about 900 to over 7,000. A checkerboard band of rough and smooth granite blocks, granite lintels and sills, and classical doorway pilasters and entablatures give it a distinctive vernacular character. Inside, much of the original marble floor and natural wood office partitions survive. It is the last survivor of the buildings planned for that district. In 1898 N.J. Badu, a mineralogist who discovered the rare \"opaline\" stone found only in Llano County, bought it as a family home, and his descendants occupied it for generations. A later rear addition does not match the original materials or style.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Llano Improvement and Furnace Company (builder)","architectural_style":"Vernacular classical features in native materials","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in good condition; used as a family weekend home and offered for sale at the time of nomination, with future plans uncertain.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.777474-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/60/9728/40972860/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/80004139.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004139/371a9be1d0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004139/371a9be1d0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Badu_building_in_in_Llano,_Texas_2010.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Badu_building_in_in_Llano,_Texas_2010.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972860","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badu_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4841157"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/llano-county/badu-building-80004139/"}