{"nrhp_refnum":"95001135","name":"Orr, J. K., Shoe Company","other_names":["Red Seal Shoe Factory"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"16 William Holmes Borders, Sr. Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Atlanta","county":"Fulton County","state":"GA","lat":33.753984315000025,"lon":-84.37469100999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-09-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick factory with a five-story corner tower at 16 William Holmes Borders, Sr. Avenue (formerly Yonge Street) in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, built 1907-1908 for the J. K. Orr Shoe Company.","why_significant":"The building is a good example of an early 20th-century utilitarian factory, designed by architect A. Francis Walker and built by W. Bensel Construction Company. It represents Atlanta's early industrial activity as a shoe factory run by J. K. Orr, Sr., a civic leader called the \"First Citizen of Atlanta.\" It is the only remaining building in Atlanta associated with Orr.","narrative":"Built in 1907-1908, this four-story brick factory with a five-story corner tower in Atlanta once produced shoes for men, women and children. Its heavy timber post-and-beam interior, large multi-sash windows, sliding metal fire doors and wood floors reflect the functional design of early 20th-century industrial buildings. Architect A. Francis Walker, a former mill architect from Framingham, Massachusetts, designed it, and W. Bensel Construction Company built it. The factory was owned by Joseph Kyle Orr, Sr., who employed 200 to 400 workers and sold shoes across the Southeast, with exports to Cuba and South America. Orr served as president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and was known as the \"First Citizen of Atlanta.\" The building is the only one left in the city tied to him. General Shoe Company bought the business in 1937. After later uses as a decorating company and artists' studios, the building was rehabilitated and now provides supportive housing. The rehabilitation received a city preservation award in 1994.","period_of_significance":"1907 - 1937","architect_builder":"A. Francis Walker, Architect; W. Bensel Construction Co., Builder","architectural_style":"Other: Utilitarian","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Rehabilitated using federal investment tax credits and now used as housing for the mentally ill, operated by a private nonprofit as \"People's Place.\"","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.335696-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/95001135.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001135/53eb7a0153-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001135/53eb7a0153-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cynthia Jennings","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JK_Orr_Shoe_Company.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cynthia Jennings</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:JK_Orr_Shoe_Company.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"00000741","name":"Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/martin-luther-king-jr-historic-district-boundary-increase-00000741/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208284","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134346480"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/fulton-county/orr-j-k-shoe-company-95001135/"}