{"nrhp_refnum":"90001934","name":"Gray Rental Houses","other_names":["#21","#22","#23"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"702--708 N. Pearl St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Belton","county":"Bell County","state":"TX","lat":31.063394825000046,"lon":-97.46229904799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-12-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Three nearly identical one-story bungalows at 702-708 North Pearl Street in Belton, Bell County, Texas, built in 1913 by George Alexander Gray as rental houses.","why_significant":"The houses are significant as local interpretations of the California-popularized bungalow, combining bungalow massing with Shingle Style and Queen Anne details. They are also early examples of houses built specifically as rental property. The listing reflects the growth of the middle class and the demand for modest housing in the early 20th century.","narrative":"Three nearly identical bungalows stand side by side at 702-708 North Pearl Street in Belton, in a neighborhood of modest houses from around the turn of the century. George Alexander Gray, a local paint store owner, built them in 1913 as rental property after visiting California. Each is a one-story, rectangular-plan house clad in wood shingles, with a hipped roof, a hipped dormer and a flared foundation. The porch is cut into the shingled wall in a semicircular form instead of using chunky columns, and the entry door is set at an angle beside a diamond-shaped window. Much of the lumber and other materials came from the Presbyterian Church on North Pearl, built in 1882 and torn down around the same time. This explains the Queen Anne-style art glass windows, which sit oddly with the bungalow design. The houses were listed for architecture, as quirky local versions of the western shingled bungalow, and as early examples of purpose-built rental housing.","period_of_significance":"1913","architect_builder":"George Alexander Gray, builder","architectural_style":"Bungalow/Craftsman","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Historic and current function is listed as single-family dwelling, so the houses remain in residential use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.500022-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/99/9681/40968199/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/90001934.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001934/29370c8549-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001934/29370c8549-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray_rental_houses.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:Gray_rental_houses.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40968199","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000129"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/bell-county/gray-rental-houses-90001934/"}