{"nrhp_refnum":"86001405","name":"Equitable Trust Building","other_names":["Broad and Locust Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1405 Locust St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.948213198000076,"lon":-75.16467639399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-07-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 21-story office tower at the Broad and Locust Street intersection in Philadelphia, built in 1925 as a combined bank, office, and theater building. Its three-story limestone base, brick shaft, and terra cotta crown are finished in a modified gothic style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a major skyscraper whose gothic styling and mixed bank, office, and theater uses were an important example of skyscraper design. It is also tied to Horace Trumbauer's career at the height of his output and to the innovative exploitation of its site, with first-floor bank and upper offices anticipating the PSFS tower.","narrative":"Completed in 1925 at the corner of Broad and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, the Equitable Trust Building is a 21-story office tower designed by Horace Trumbauer with A.F. Gilbert of New York. It was built for Louis Cahan, who also commissioned Trumbauer's Chateau Crillon on Rittenhouse Square. The tower rises from a three-story limestone base with a gothic arcade and is capped by a two-story terra cotta crown with turrets and buttresses. Its brick shaft is patterned by paired sash windows and modulated pier treatment. The building combined a bank, offices, and a theater under one roof, with the theater lobbies and a vaulted mezzanine lobby on the west side. Its planning, with bathrooms on stair landings at half levels, was regarded as an early and original example of multi-use commercial design. The site was also notable for placing a bank on the first floor with offices above, anticipating the later PSFS tower. In the 1930s and 1940s the building was best known for its owner, Thomas Mitten, who ran the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company from offices there.","period_of_significance":"1925","architect_builder":"Horace Trumbauer & A.F. Gilbert (N.Y.)","architectural_style":"Modified gothic","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Under restoration; the theater has been demolished and the 1950s stainless steel awning and shopfronts were slated for removal.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.257619-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86001405.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001405/6b25c06a5a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001405/6b25c06a5a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Equitable_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Equitable_Philly.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"84003529","name":"Broad Street Historic District (Additional Documentation)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/broad-street-historic-district-additional-documentation-84003529/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997180","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equitable_Trust_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5384630"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/equitable-trust-building-86001405/"}