{"nrhp_refnum":"83001925","name":"Professional Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"123-127 W. Hargett and McDowell Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake County","state":"NC","lat":35.778374953000025,"lon":-78.64072577399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-09-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eight-story steel-frame commercial office building at 123-127 West Hargett Street, at the corner of McDowell Street, facing Nash Square in downtown Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina. It opened in December 1925.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of the early fireproof steel-frame skyscrapers in Raleigh and North Carolina, and as a symbol of Raleigh's shift from a small rural town to a state capital and business center in the 1920s. It is tied to textile leader William Allen Erwin and to architect Yancey Milburn of Milburn, Heister & Co. It also shows Chicago School influence with Beaux Arts detailing.","narrative":"Rising eight stories at West Hargett and McDowell Streets in downtown Raleigh, this office building opened in December 1925 as one of the city's first fireproof steel-frame skyscrapers. Milburn, Heister & Co., with Yancey Milburn as designer, gave it a yellow brick shaft, white terracotta ornament, a broken-pedimented arched entrance, and a balustraded cornice. J.E. Beaman Construction Company built it. It faces Nash Square and was part of a 1920s building boom in a city then growing from a rural town into a state capital and business center. William Allen Erwin of Durham, a pioneer of the state's textile industry, and his wife owned it. Income from the building went into a trust that supported the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill. Offices were leased mainly to physicians, dentists and major corporations. The building is valued for its architecture, its connection to the Erwins, and its place in Raleigh's growth.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"J.E. Beaman Const./Milburn & Heister, Archs.","architectural_style":"Chicago-style office building with Beaux Arts terracotta ornamentation in Neo-classical themes","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Described as in good condition with minor alterations, and continuously occupied by office tenants; the form also lists its status as work in progress.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.516851-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/7225/47722521/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/83001925.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001925/6a9ca4254a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001925/6a9ca4254a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Nicholas Oren Rawlings","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Professional_Building_Cornice_Detail.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nicholas Oren Rawlings</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:Professional_Building_Cornice_Detail.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722521","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Building_(Raleigh,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20639524"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wake-county/professional-building-83001925/"}