{"nrhp_refnum":"84003180","name":"Buckwalter Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"11-13 S. High St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"West Chester","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":39.959635527000046,"lon":-75.60401530799999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-02-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Buckwalter Building is an irregular three-bay, three and one-half story cross gable masonry building in West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania, diagonally across the street from the Chester County Court House. It was built in 1893 as the office and rental building of banker Henry Brinton Buckwalter.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a unique local example of the romantic medieval style popular in Philadelphia in the 1880s and 1890s, and that it was a radical innovation in conservative West Chester. Its facade is said to be essentially unchanged since construction, and it is presented as an intact example of a commercial Romanesque Revival structure. Its window patterns combine Georgian, Federal and Renaissance elements in a medieval design.","narrative":"Completed in 1893 on a corner lot across from the Chester County Court House in West Chester, the Buckwalter Building is a three and one-half story cross gable masonry building. Its facade combines Roman brick and red sandstone, a two-story projecting wood oriel, and tripartite windows set in deep reveals, including a Venetian window on the third floor. The building was planned with offices on the first floor, apartments above and storage in the attic. It was built by banker Henry Brinton Buckwalter, a county official and prison inspector, for his own office. The nomination regards it as an intact example of commercial Romanesque Revival design in a town dominated by brick Federal and classical buildings. Its muntin patterns, adapted from eighteenth century Philadelphia and Wilmington city halls, and its contrast of elaborate small mouldings with heavy plain trim give it particular interest. The building was bought by the Chester County Trust Company by 1900.","period_of_significance":"1893","architect_builder":"William Burns (builder)","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Facade is unchanged except for air conditioners and some stone deterioration; the rear frame wing has been demolished; the interior has been remodelled at various times but is in excellent condition.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.896436-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/84003180.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003180/f837c6df1b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003180/f837c6df1b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buckwalter_West_Chest_PA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buckwalter_West_Chest_PA.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"05000096","name":"West Chester Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/west-chester-historic-district-boundary-increase-05000096/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998654","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckwalter_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4983558"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/buckwalter-building-84003180/"}