{"nrhp_refnum":"84001113","name":"Irvin General Merchandise Store","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Irvin St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cornelia","county":"Habersham County","state":"GA","lat":34.51125878400006,"lon":-83.52767494299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick commercial building in downtown Cornelia, Habersham County, Georgia, spanning a full city block between Irvin Street and Hodges Street. The Irvin Street front dates to about 1904 and the Hodges Street front to between 1922 and 1932.","why_significant":"The nomination cites architecture and commerce. It is one of the oldest and largest historic commercial buildings in Cornelia with an intact facade, and the contrast between its Victorian front and 1920s rear shows changing tastes. It also housed a large general store, later a department store, serving Cornelia and nearby mountain counties.","narrative":"This two-story brick commercial building in downtown Cornelia, Georgia, runs the full width of a city block, with one facade on Irvin Street and another on Hodges Street. The Irvin Street front, probably built about 1904, has segmental arched windows, a brick string course and a corbeled cornice. The Hodges Street front, added when the building was extended to the rear between 1922 and 1932, is simpler and more streamlined. The site began as a general store near the railroad junction that drove Cornelia's growth. G.B. Irvin bought the business in 1904, and it grew into one of the largest department stores in the region, offering furniture, dry goods, clothing and funeral arrangements. The Belk-Gallant Company leased and modernized it in 1940 and operated it until it closed in 1979. Its listing recognizes its place in local commerce and its value as an example of a late-Victorian small-town general store, with wooden interior columns and a restored skylight.","period_of_significance":"1900-; specific dates ca. 1900, 1922-32","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian general store (turn-of-the-century commercial)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Recently rehabilitated and now used as offices, with a library, after the store closed in 1979.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:42.880795-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/84001113.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100007277","name":"Cornelia Commercial Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/cornelia-commercial-historic-district-100007277/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208542","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134363587"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/habersham-county/irvin-general-merchandise-store-84001113/"}