{"nrhp_refnum":"83001880","name":"Nissen Building","other_names":["First Union Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"310 W. Fourth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Winston-Salem","county":"Forsyth County","state":"NC","lat":36.09212264200005,"lon":-80.25358561599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-03-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eighteen-story skyscraper on the corner of Fourth and Cherry Streets in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, built in 1926 by William M. Nissen on the site of the former Y.M.C.A.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building reflects the 1920s boom in Winston-Salem, when tobacco and textile wealth funded elaborate skyscrapers. Its eclectic Neo-classical design, its association with the Nissen family and its role as a prominent feature of the city skyline are cited as the basis for significance. At completion it was said to be the tallest building in North Carolina.","narrative":"Built in 1926 on the corner of Fourth and Cherry Streets in downtown Winston-Salem, the eighteen-story Nissen Building was designed by New York architect William L. Stoddart for William M. Nissen, former owner of the Nissen Wagon Works. Stoddart arranged its facade in the classical column pattern of base, shaft and capital, with two parallel towers divided by a setback. At completion it was said to be the tallest building in North Carolina. The building is regarded as a monument to the boom of the 1920s in Winston-Salem and to the Nissen family's role in the city's development. Its ground-floor entrance and much of the lobby were altered in the 1960s, but most of the exterior detailing survives. Federal offices occupied the upper floors from 1942, and the building remains a prominent part of the city skyline.","period_of_significance":"1926","architect_builder":"William L. Stoddart (architect); William M. Nissen (owner, commissioning builder)","architectural_style":"Eclectic skyscraper with Neo-classical motifs","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Exterior largely intact apart from 1960s street-level alterations; upper floors were occupied by government offices and the building was sold in 1982 to an actuarial firm for renovation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:42.328184-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/7202/47720202/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/83001880.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001880/f9a0e3b16c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001880/f9a0e3b16c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Chuck Allen","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nissen_Building,_Winston_Salem.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Chuck Allen</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nissen_Building,_Winston_Salem.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720202","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissen_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14708102"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/forsyth-county/nissen-building-83001880/"}