{"nrhp_refnum":"94001359","name":"Woolworth, F. W., Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"501 Houston St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fort Worth","county":"Tarrant County","state":"TX","lat":32.75347500200007,"lon":-97.33146560699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-11-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story commercial department store building with a full basement at 501 Houston Street at Fourth Street in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, built in 1926 for the F. W. Woolworth Company.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it reflects the 1920s retail and economic boom in Fort Worth and the rise of national chain stores (Criterion A, Commerce). It also marks architect Wiley G. Clarkson's shift from Classical and Beaux Arts design to Art Deco (Criterion C, Architecture).","narrative":"Built in 1926 at the corner of Fourth and Houston Streets, this three-story, limestone-faced store sits at the center of downtown Fort Worth's historic retail intersection. Wiley G. Clarkson designed it, and contractor James T. Taylor built it. The flat-roofed building combines streamlined Art Deco massing with Classical details such as molded cornices, a floral frieze, Doric-style window piers and a granite bulkhead. Inside, an open floor plan with a regular column grid allowed flexible merchandise display. Remodeling in 1947 and 1954 changed the storefront windows, the entrance and the interior fittings, and the store closed in 1990. The building is recognized for its link to the 1920s growth of Fort Worth, fueled by cattle and oil wealth, and to the spread of national chain retailing. It is also valued as the clearest example of Clarkson's move from Classical and Beaux Arts styles toward the Art Deco work that followed.","period_of_significance":"1925-1941","architect_builder":"Wiley G. Clarkson, Architect; James T. Taylor, Contractor","architectural_style":"Art Deco, Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The store closed in January 1990 and the property was sold; the form notes the exterior is largely intact apart from the 1954 storefront changes and aluminum trim on the upper window jambs.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.501918-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/40/9734/40973440/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/94001359.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001359/9d2c6c44b0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001359/9d2c6c44b0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F.W._Woolworth_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</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:F.W._Woolworth_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973440","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._Woolworth_Building_(Fort_Worth,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5424090"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/tarrant-county/woolworth-f-w-building-94001359/"}