{"nrhp_refnum":"80004489","name":"Busch Building","other_names":["Kirby Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1501--1509 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dallas","county":"Dallas County","state":"TX","lat":32.780561299000055,"lon":-96.79929659699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-07-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 17-story combination office and retail building at 1501-1509 Main Street, at the corner of Main and Akard Streets in downtown Dallas, Texas, completed in 1913 for Augustus A. Busch & Company.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of the finest examples of Late Gothic Revival skyscraper architecture, and among the first in the country in that style alongside New York's Woolworth Building. It was built as an office and retail companion to the Adolphus Hotel and housed the A.H. Harris department store. A 1947 rooftop heating system was the first of its kind in the country.","narrative":"Rising 250 feet above Main and Akard Streets in downtown Dallas, this 17-story office and retail building was completed in 1913 for Augustus A. Busch & Company as a companion to the Adolphus Hotel. St. Louis architects Barnett, Hayes and Barnett designed it with Dallas firm Lang and Witchell. Its facades carry Gothic terra-cotta ornament, granite-clad steel columns, a heavy cornice, and a battlement with pinnacles and finials. The nomination ranks it among the earliest skyscrapers in the Late Gothic Revival style, contemporary with New York's Woolworth Building. The A.H. Harris department store leased the lower floors for more than forty years. In 1947 the building received rooftop boilers, described as the first such system in the country. A 1970 renovation added a street-level arcade and a bank lobby, while the upper interior, with marble wainscots and carved wood doors, remains largely original.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Barnett, Hayes & Barnett, St. Louis, MO; Lang & Witchell, Dallas, Texas","architectural_style":"Late Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied, in commercial use, and in excellent condition; renovated in 1970 with a street-level arcade and a bank lobby in the former department store space.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.545812-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/63/9716/40971663/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/80004489.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004489/1b331df549-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004489/1b331df549-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Joe Mabel","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dallas_-_Kirby_Building_pano_02.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Joe Mabel</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:Dallas_-_Kirby_Building_pano_02.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"04000894","name":"Dallas Downtown Historic District (Additional Documentation)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/dallas-downtown-historic-district-additional-documentation-04000894/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971663","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6414903"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/dallas-county/busch-building-80004489/"}