{"nrhp_refnum":"99000436","name":"Robinson-Gardner Building","other_names":["Robinson Brothers Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"173-175 W. Main Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Gastonia","county":"Gaston County","state":"NC","lat":35.26362042300008,"lon":-81.18317700699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-04-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick commercial building on West Main Avenue in downtown Gastonia, Gaston County, North Carolina, built in 1899 for brothers J. Lee and Samuel A. Robinson.","why_significant":"The building is regarded as the oldest known commercial building in downtown Gastonia and as one of the least altered, with an intact Renaissance Revival second-story facade. It also housed two prominent mercantile businesses, the Robinson Brothers Shoe Company and the Gardner family's men's clothing store, over nearly eight decades.","narrative":"Built in 1899 for brothers J. Lee and Samuel A. Robinson, this two-story brick commercial building stands on West Main Avenue in Gastonia's downtown commercial district. Its second-story facade is a handsome Renaissance Revival composition with pressed metal pilasters, a projecting cornice with dentils, modillions and fleur-de-lis cresting, and a round-arched center bay with a cartouche keystone. The Robinson Shoe Company occupied the building until about 1927, when B. B. Gardner bought it. His family ran a men's clothing store there until 1975, first as The Young Men's Shop and later as Warren Gardner's. The interior retains wood display cabinetry, a pressed metal ceiling and a curved ironwork stair from a 1946 remodeling. Because it is the oldest surviving commercial building of its period in the area and among the most architecturally sophisticated, it is valued for its design and for its long association with local merchants.","period_of_significance":"1899-1948","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Renaissance Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"In use as a restaurant on the first floor, with offices on the second floor; undergoing rehabilitation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.408049-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/75/7203/47720375/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/99000436.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000436/260bfb74f5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000436/260bfb74f5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Upstateherd","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Freeman%27s_Pub_in_the_Robinson-Gardner_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Upstateherd</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:Freeman%27s_Pub_in_the_Robinson-Gardner_Building.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"03001375","name":"Downtown Gastonia Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/downtown-gastonia-historic-district-03001375/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720375","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson%E2%80%93Gardner_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20679825"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/gaston-county/robinson-gardner-building-99000436/"}