{"nrhp_refnum":"98000729","name":"Robinson, A., Building","other_names":["Howard-Robinson Building","Pyramid Barber Shop"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"707-709 Patterson Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Winston-Salem","county":"Forsyth County","state":"NC","lat":36.10297069300003,"lon":-80.24099570899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-06-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Black","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick commercial building at the east side of Patterson Avenue between East Seventh and East Seven-and-one-half streets in the Depot Street neighborhood of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina. Built in 1940-1941 for the Howard-Robinson Funeral Home, it was designed by owner Aladine Robinson.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a rare surviving example of the African-American commercial buildings that once served Winston-Salem's black neighborhoods, and one of only three or four showing sophistication in its execution and design. It is also presented as a little-changed representative of the brick commercial building type, with hand-made brick from local brickmaker George Black and a front of machine-made brick.","narrative":"Two-story brick commercial building on Patterson Avenue in Winston-Salem's Depot Street neighborhood, completed in 1941 for the Howard-Robinson Funeral Home. Aladine Robinson, who had taken over the firm's predecessor business after K. Howard's death in 1928, designed the building himself. Its dark red brick facade is accented with yellow brick in a symmetrical layout, with fluted pilasters, metal casement windows and a granite sign reading \"A. Robinson 1941\". The side walls use hand-made bricks by George Black, a local brickmaker, and the building is of solid masonry rather than brick veneer over frame. The ground floor originally included a chapel and a barber shop designed for Wilbur Garrett. The building was used by a small Catholic congregation in 1940-1941 before its church was dedicated. It is regarded as a rare survivor of Winston-Salem's African-American commercial architecture, and the funeral business that occupied it for decades reflects the community's commercial growth.","period_of_significance":"1940-1948","architect_builder":"Robinson, Aladine, owner and designer; Greenwood, J.W., contractor; Gray, Lawrence, brickmason","architectural_style":"Commercial Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The building continues in use as a barber school and barber shop, and the document states the rear garage and annex are in poor condition while the main building is in good condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.873941-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/23/7178/47717823/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/98000729.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000729/b59479cd73-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000729/b59479cd73-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A._Robinson_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A._Robinson_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717823","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Robinson_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21016129"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/forsyth-county/robinson-a-building-98000729/"}