{"nrhp_refnum":"83004498","name":"Green and Faris Buildings","other_names":["First National Bank Building","San Marcos Title Company Buildi"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"136-144 E. San Antonio St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Marcos","county":"Hays County","state":"TX","lat":29.882017012000063,"lon":-97.94018468999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-08-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Two adjoining two-story commercial buildings at 136-144 East San Antonio Street on the south side of the courthouse square in San Marcos, Hays County, Texas. The Green Building (140-144) dates to 1879 and the Faris Building (136-138) to 1881-85.","why_significant":"The buildings housed the First National Bank, described as the oldest operating business in San Marcos, which opened here in 1879. They are considered two of the handsomest and perhaps oldest buildings on the courthouse square, with an unadorned design typical of the period when the town was developing as a commercial center. They are nominated for architecture and commerce.","narrative":"Two adjoining two-story commercial buildings face the south side of the San Marcos courthouse square. The larger, at 140-144 East San Antonio Street, was built in 1879 by banker Ed J.L. Green of rough-cut limestone on the sides and rear and brick on the front, with nine second-floor windows under segmental arches. Next door, the Faris Building at 136-138 was built between 1881 and 1885 of painted brick. The Green Building first housed the bank that became First National Bank of San Marcos, chartered in 1885 and described as the oldest operating business in the town. Lawyers, doctors, real-estate agents and a general store also rented space. The bank moved to the east side of the square in 1909, and the buildings later served various uses. Both have been heavily altered, leaving little original first-floor or interior fabric, but their plain design is typical of the town's early commercial growth, and together they form a single visual unit.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied, in good condition but altered; commercial use on the ground floor with apartments upstairs, on the original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.281438-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/37/9695/40969537/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/83004498.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004498/1c0ad9f037-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004498/1c0ad9f037-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Green_faris_buildings_2013.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:Green_faris_buildings_2013.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"92001233","name":"Hays County Courthouse Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/hays-county-courthouse-historic-district-92001233/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969537","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000899"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/hays-county/green-and-faris-buildings-83004498/"}