{"nrhp_refnum":"98000141","name":"National Biscuit Company Building","other_names":["Purse and Co. Wholesale Furniture","Purse Carpet Co. Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15 N. Chenevert","address_restricted":false,"city":"Houston","county":"Harris County","state":"TX","lat":29.76030962200008,"lon":-95.35236217599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-02-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story brick and terra cotta industrial building with a sixth-story loggia at 15 North Chenevert in Houston's Second Ward warehouse district, built in 1910 as a regional bakery and headquarters for the National Biscuit Company, designed by architect Albert G. Zimmerman.","why_significant":"The building was the National Biscuit Company's southwest regional baking, packing and shipping headquarters and reflects Houston's early 20th-century industrial growth. It is also an early Houston warehouse-type building with a steel frame and tile fireproofing, and it adapts Chicago-style design to an industrial plant. It is significant at the local level under Criteria A (Industry) and C (Architecture).","narrative":"Built in 1910 at 15 North Chenevert, this five-story red brick building with a sixth-story loggia served as the National Biscuit Company's southwest regional bakery and headquarters in Houston. Architect Albert G. Zimmerman, who designed similar plants for the company in other cities, gave it light buff terra cotta trim, white brick accents, an arched entrance and a stair and water tower. Its steel columns with tile fireproofing replaced the timber framing of the company's earlier 1902 Houston building, making it one of the first warehouse-type buildings in the city to use that method. Smoke-proof stair towers and ground-level loading facilities reflected the company's emphasis on worker safety and efficient production. The company moved to Houston after the 1900 Galveston hurricane, choosing a site near Buffalo Bayou and the railroads. It occupied the building until the 1950s, when it was sold to a carpet dealer. Exterior changes have been modest, and the building is now vacant.","period_of_significance":"1910-1947","architect_builder":"Zimmerman, Albert G., AIA","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Chicago","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as vacant/not in use; the building retains a high degree of integrity, with a 1969 two-story metal warehouse addition on the west.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.457229-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/30/9724/40972430/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/98000141.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000141/d905edba8c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000141/d905edba8c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Biscuit_Company_Houston.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Biscuit_Company_Houston.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972430","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Biscuit_Company_Building_(Houston)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20714944"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/harris-county/national-biscuit-company-building-98000141/"}