{"nrhp_refnum":"86002400","name":"National Compress Company Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"503 S. Flat","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waxahachie","county":"Ellis County","state":"TX","lat":32.381143199000064,"lon":-96.84601888499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-09-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large one-story industrial cotton compress building at 503 S. Flat Street in Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas, with an estimated construction date of 1894 and additions around 1920. It is part of the Waxahachie Multiple Resource Area.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under commerce and industry. It was in operation by 1895 with S. P. Locke as president and is one of only two intact cotton-related structures still standing in Waxahachie. Its operation contributed to the city's rapid growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.","narrative":"This is a massive one-story cotton compress at 503 S. Flat Street in Waxahachie, Texas, dated to about 1894 with additions around 1920. Built of frame with corrugated metal sheathing, it is covered by a continuous series of six larger and five smaller gabled roofs. A two-story tower with a pyramidal roof rises east of a brick section. A primary loading dock with extended eaves faces west and south, with secondary docks on the other sides and abandoned railroad tracks along the south side. The compress stood in a warehouse and rail shipping area just south of downtown. It was in operation by 1895 with S. P. Locke as president and ran as the National Compress Co. from the 1890s into the 1970s. It is one of only two intact cotton-related structures left in the city, and its operation contributed to Waxahachie's rapid growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It still functions as a cotton compress.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Condition is described as good; the building still functions as a cotton compress, and the railroad tracks on its south side are abandoned.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.127055-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/36/9691/40969136/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/86002400.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002400/c2993a645b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002400/c2993a645b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Carolyn Diaz","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Former_National_Compress_Company_Building_south_side_(facing_southeast).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Carolyn Diaz</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Former_National_Compress_Company_Building_south_side_(facing_southeast).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"75001971","name":"Ellis County Courthouse Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/ellis-county-courthouse-historic-district-75001971/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969136","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000719"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/ellis-county/national-compress-company-building-86002400/"}