{"nrhp_refnum":"95001422","name":"City Public Service Company Building","other_names":["Petroleum Commerce Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"201 N. St. Mary's St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Antonio","county":"Bexar County","state":"TX","lat":29.425564399000052,"lon":-98.49184706199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-12-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story reinforced concrete office building at 201 North St. Mary's Street in downtown San Antonio, Texas, within the Horseshoe Bend of the San Antonio River. It was built in 1921 as three stories and enlarged to six in 1927, to designs by Atlee B. Ayres and Robert M. Ayres.","why_significant":"The building was the first and only one built specifically to house San Antonio's public utility provider, which served the city's transportation, gas and electric needs. It housed the company from 1921 until 1955, and its enlargement in 1927 reflected the company's growth alongside the city. It is significant locally under Criterion A in the area of Commerce.","narrative":"Located at 201 North St. Mary's Street in downtown San Antonio, this reinforced concrete office building was completed in 1921 as the headquarters of the San Antonio Public Service Company, the city's utility provider formed in 1917 by merging the traction and the gas and electric companies. Atlee B. Ayres designed the original three stories, and he and his son Robert added three more in 1927. Terra cotta clads the lower floors and buff brick the upper ones, with a Spanish Colonial Revival cornice. Its river facade was treated as a principal elevation, which was unusual for downtown at the time. The company moved out in 1955, and the building was remodeled in 1957 as the Petroleum Commerce Building, with an attached parking garage that is noncontributing. It is now vacant, with restoration planned for hotel use. It was listed for its role in local commerce, as the only building constructed specifically for the city's utility provider.","period_of_significance":"1921-1946","architect_builder":"Ayres, Atlee B. and Robert M. (architects); Schoenfeld, Charles (contractor, 1921); Diver, M.L. (consulting engineer, 1921); Simpson, W.E. (project engineer, 1927)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Commercial Style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Listed current function is vacant/not in use; the 1950s entry alterations and wood sash windows have been removed in anticipation of restoration and a planned hotel conversion. The structure is described as structurally sound.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:24.117717-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/9712/40971233/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/95001422.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001422/ff0ebae25c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001422/ff0ebae25c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Citypublicservice1.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:Citypublicservice1.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"79002914","name":"Main and Military Plazas Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/main-and-military-plazas-historic-district-79002914/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971233","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110001596"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/bexar-county/city-public-service-company-building-95001422/"}