{"nrhp_refnum":"86000316","name":"Third National Bank Building","other_names":["Commercial Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"195 W. Main Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Gastonia","county":"Gaston County","state":"NC","lat":35.26370975300006,"lon":-81.18372691099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-02-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Economics","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eight-story office highrise at the southeast corner of West Main Avenue and South Street in downtown Gastonia, Gaston County, North Carolina, completed in 1923 and designed by Milburn, Heister and Company of Washington, D.C.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a key visual landmark in downtown Gastonia and one of only two early twentieth-century skyscrapers in Gaston County. It applies English Jacobean and Tudor Revival elements to skyscraper design in dark red brick, terra cotta and stone. It reflects the textile-boom prosperity of the 1920s and the work of a prominent regional architectural firm. It is also one of few downtown buildings that escaped radical remodelling.","narrative":"Rising eight stories above the two- and three-story stores around it, this office tower anchors the corner of West Main Avenue and South Street in downtown Gastonia. It was completed in 1923 for the Third National Bank of Gastonia and designed by Milburn, Heister and Company of Washington, D.C., a firm responsible for hundreds of public buildings and skyscrapers across the Southeast. The exterior combines dark red brick, a stone base and an ornate terra cotta top story, with Jacobean and Tudor details that set it apart from the Greek-inspired towers common in the Carolinas. Inside, the marble elevator lobby, brass fixtures and two-story banking room survive largely intact. The building rose during the regional textile boom, and its backers were bankers and insurance men rather than mill owners, showing how widely that prosperity had spread. Few downtown Gastonia buildings escaped heavy remodelling in the mid-twentieth century, which adds to its value as a local landmark.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific date 1923)","architect_builder":"Milburn, Heister and Company","architectural_style":"English Tudor Revival / Jacobean elements applied to a skyscraper","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Described as in good original condition apart from altered first-floor shopfronts and the fifth floor interior; the owners planned a major rehabilitation. The form marks it as occupied and commercial.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:50.005898-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/79/7203/47720379/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/86000316.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000316/45c0cc0bfb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000316/45c0cc0bfb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Upstateherd","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Third_National_Bank_or_Commercial_Building,_Gastonia,_NC.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Upstateherd</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Third_National_Bank_or_Commercial_Building,_Gastonia,_NC.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"03001375","name":"Downtown Gastonia Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/downtown-gastonia-historic-district-03001375/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720379","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_National_Bank_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20639527"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/gaston-county/third-national-bank-building-86000316/"}