{"nrhp_refnum":"97000481","name":"Greer, R. T., and Company","other_names":["Herb House","File #119-5001"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"107 Pendleton St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marion","county":"Smyth County","state":"VA","lat":36.83394378600008,"lon":-81.51569482299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-05-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick commercial building at 107 Pendleton Street in Marion, Smyth County, Virginia, built in 1916 as an herb warehouse for R. T. Greer & Company, with a two-story drying room addition from 1936.","why_significant":"The nomination argues state-level significance under Criterion A for the building's role in Appalachian commerce as a center for buying, processing and selling herbs, roots, barks and berries. The firm shipped to pharmaceutical houses across the United States and abroad and became the largest botanical herb dealer in the nation by 1928. The business also provided income to mountain families during the Great Depression.","narrative":"Built in 1916 on Pendleton Street in Marion, Virginia, this three-story brick building served as the warehouse and office of R. T. Greer & Company, a dealer in medicinal herbs. Local craftsmen built it: Cooley Brothers, African-American brick masons, laid the load-bearing walls, B. B. Johnston framed it in oak post and beam, and T. K. Sayers did the grading and cement work. Original oak plank floors, window sash, a grain elevator and an early herb grinder survive, and a 1936 drying room addition was attached at the rear. The company bought roots, herbs, barks, berries and later furs from mountain families and shipped them to pharmaceutical firms in the United States and overseas. By 1928 it was described as the largest botanical herb dealer in the nation, and its purchases helped families through the Great Depression. The business declined after World War II and the building sat empty from 1968 to 1992. It reopened in 1993 as a shop and herb education center.","period_of_significance":"1916-1946","architect_builder":"Johnston, B. B., Carpenter; Cooley Bros., Brickwork; Sayers, T. K., Cementwork & Grading","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Commercial style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Empty from 1968 through 1992; reopened in July 1993 as the Herb House, selling local crafts and herbs and offering herb classes.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.963953-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/6836/41683676/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/97000481.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000481/c82568b3a1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000481/c82568b3a1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cecouchman","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RTGreer_Smyth_3361.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cecouchman</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:RTGreer_Smyth_3361.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683676","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._T._Greer_and_Company_(Marion,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16891894"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/smyth-county/greer-r-t-and-company-97000481/"}