{"nrhp_refnum":"99000284","name":"Burns Building","other_names":["Penney's Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"401 E. Houston St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Antonio","county":"Bexar County","state":"TX","lat":29.42681449400004,"lon":-98.48833564899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-03-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story reinforced concrete and brick commercial building at the northeast corner of Jefferson and East Houston Streets in downtown San Antonio, Texas, built in 1918 as a department store and later converted to offices.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for its role in downtown commerce and development and as an early local example of reinforced concrete \"daylight store\" design. Its large windows, open plan and innovative shadow-box display windows reflect early 20th century retail architecture. It also housed a succession of notable stores, including Washer Brothers and J.C. Penney.","narrative":"Built in 1918 at the corner of Jefferson and East Houston Streets, two blocks west of Alamo Plaza, this San Antonio commercial building began as a four-story department store with a basement and mezzanine. The estate of Hugh Burns commissioned it on land bought from George M. Maverick. Sanguinet, Staats and Boelhauwe designed it with a reinforced concrete frame, which allowed wide bays, large Chicago-style windows and abundant natural light, the so-called daylight store approach. Its shadow-box display windows were described at the time as the first in Texas. Ralph Cameron altered the storefront and added a basement stair in 1921, and a fifth floor was added between 1950 and 1955. Washer Brothers, D.L. Pincus, Kress and J.C. Penney's occupied it over the years. It was listed for its association with downtown commerce and as an early reinforced concrete store. A recent renovation for offices kept historic fabric such as awnings, column capitals and show windows.","period_of_significance":"1918-1954","architect_builder":"Sanguinet, Staats & Boelhauwe, Ralph Cameron (architects); J.P. Haybes (builder)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Chicago","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition; exterior restored and interior renovated for offices, with the fifth floor still unfinished at the time of the form.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.99698-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/9712/40971241/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/99000284.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000284/2411eba7a2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000284/2411eba7a2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BurnsBuilding1.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:BurnsBuilding1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971241","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110001588"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/bexar-county/burns-building-99000284/"}