{"nrhp_refnum":"84000271","name":"Central Trust Company Buildings","other_names":["Brett Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1210-1218 11th Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Altoona","county":"Blair County","state":"PA","lat":40.518824804000076,"lon":-78.40120484699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-11-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Economics","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Two adjoining five-story commercial buildings in downtown Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania: the Central Trust Company Building (1905-06) and the Brett Building (1922-24), linked by a stair and elevator tower. Together they measure about 130 by 120 feet.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the pair are locally significant early twentieth-century commercial architecture, combining Richardsonian and Beaux Arts elements in the first and an example of Sullivanesque design in the second, the only one of its kind in downtown Altoona. They are also tied to the Central Trust Company, a local bank that served as Altoona's clearing house, and to the local merchant Jacob Brett. The buildings are described as a rare, largely intact survival from Altoona's building boom.","narrative":"Two five-story commercial buildings stand side by side on what was once Altoona's principal commercial street, joined by a stair and elevator tower. The Central Trust Company Building was designed by the Pittsburgh firm Robinson & Winkler and built in 1905 and 1906 by local contractor P. W. Finn. It combines brownstone and granite with white glazed brick and arcaded upper stories, blending Richardsonian massing with Beaux Arts ornament. The adjoining Brett Building, completed between 1922 and 1924 to a design by Julian Millard, is reinforced concrete and brick with terra cotta ornament, and is the only downtown Altoona building in the Sullivanesque manner. The bank was the home office of the Central Trust Company, which acted as the clearing house for the city's seven banks. The two buildings share upper floors, a result of an agreement between the bank and the building's owner, Jacob Brett. Because few other turn-of-the-century downtown buildings keep their original fronts, they are valued as a record of Altoona's growth.","period_of_significance":"1905-1924","architect_builder":"Robinson & Winkler (architects, Central Trust Company Building); P. W. Finn (builder); Julian Millard (architect, Brett Building)","architectural_style":"Richardsonian and Beaux Arts (Central Trust Company Building); Sullivanesque (Brett Building)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.993961-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/84000271.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000271/0073413c8d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000271/0073413c8d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"David Ames","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Central_Trust_Company_Building,_Altoona.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">David Ames</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Central_Trust_Company_Building,_Altoona.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"92000946","name":"Downtown Altoona Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/downtown-altoona-historic-district-92000946/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994511","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Trust_Company_Buildings","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5061935"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/blair-county/central-trust-company-buildings-84000271/"}