{"nrhp_refnum":"95001028","name":"Illies Building-Justine Apartments","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"503 21st St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Galveston","county":"Galveston County","state":"TX","lat":29.29730803900003,"lon":-94.78254386499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-08-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story L-shaped concrete frame and masonry apartment building with ground-floor shops at 503 21st Street in the central business district of Galveston, Texas, built in 1929.","why_significant":"It is one of the few surviving pre-Depression multi-story residential buildings in Galveston and one of the few 1920s buildings in the downtown. It represents architectural trends of the 1920s in the central business district. It is eligible locally under Criterion C in the area of Architecture.","narrative":"Built in 1929 at 503 21st Street, this five-story L-shaped building in downtown Galveston combined retail shops on the ground floor with 20 apartments above. Architect Donald Neil McKenzie, born in Galveston, designed it with his half-brother, real estate investor C.J.H. Illies, and named it for their late mother, Justine. It replaced an 1867 wooden building that was among the oldest commercial structures on the island. Buff brick and cast stone detailing give it a commercial version of Renaissance Revival style. Inside, the lobby has a terrazzo floor, tile wainscot and an original Otis elevator. Early advertisements promoted efficiency apartments with modern conveniences far above local rental standards. Finished just before the Depression, it was the last multi-family building in the central business district for several decades. It remains one of few multi-story apartment buildings from the 1920s downtown, with its original room layouts largely intact, and it was recognized for its architecture at the local level.","period_of_significance":"1929-1945","architect_builder":"Donald Neil McKenzie","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Italian Renaissance (Renaissance Revival)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a multi-family dwelling with ground-floor commercial space; it was being rehabilitated to continue its housing function, with relatively few exterior alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.923397-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/67/9691/40969167/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/95001028.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001028/c8b212c339-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001028/c8b212c339-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jim Evans","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illies_Building-Justine_Apartments.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim Evans</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:Illies_Building-Justine_Apartments.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969167","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110002053"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/galveston-county/illies-building-justine-apartments-95001028/"}