{"nrhp_refnum":"84001911","name":"Praetorian Building","other_names":["Service Mutual Building","Southwestern Building","Franklin Tower"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"601 Franklin Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waco","county":"McLennan County","state":"TX","lat":31.555172550000066,"lon":-97.13235865099995,"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 seven-story reinforced concrete office building at 601 Franklin Avenue in downtown Waco, McLennan County, Texas, built in 1915 for the Modern Order of Praetorians' Waco Chapter.","why_significant":"It is presented as one of the earliest and most intact skyscrapers in Central Texas and the major surviving building tied to the early years of the Modern Order of Praetorians, the first life insurance company chartered in Texas. It was designed by the Dallas firm C.W. Bulger & Son, and is one of only two Chicago Style structures in Waco. It also reflects Waco's early twentieth century prosperity as an insurance center.","narrative":"Rising seven stories at the corner of South 6th Street and Franklin Avenue, this Waco office building was completed for the Modern Order of Praetorians in 1915. Dallas architects C.W. Bulger & Son designed it using Chicago School organization, with a granite base, cream-colored terra-cotta shaft and cornice, and a Mission Style parapet that adds a regional touch. Praetorian shields and the order's sword-and-shield logo decorate the facades. The Praetorians were Texas's first chartered life insurance company, and Waco was then known as the insurance city of Texas. The group's larger Dallas headquarters was heavily altered in 1961, leaving the Waco building as the most intact structure connected with the order. It later became the Service Mutual and Southwestern buildings and housed the Veterans Administration from 1962 to 1965. It has stood vacant since 1973, though the building keeps its essential integrity, and the terra-cotta is among the best surviving in Texas from the World War I era.","period_of_significance":"1915","architect_builder":"Architect: C.W. Bulger & Son; Builder: Hughes O'Rourke Const.","architectural_style":"Chicago Style with a Mission Style parapet","criteria":[],"status_note":"Vacant since 1973; the exterior and interior show mostly 1950s alterations, the terra-cotta is deteriorating, and plans call for restoration and stabilization of the main facades.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.042355-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/87/9729/40972987/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/84001911.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001911/3b8b756a14-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84001911/3b8b756a14-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Praetorian_building_2009.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:Praetorian_building_2009.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972987","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praetorian_Building_(Waco,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7237563"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/mclennan-county/praetorian-building-84001911/"}