Carolina Power and Light Company Car Barn and Automobile Garage
Why it's listed
Built in 1925 by the Carolina Power and Light Company, this long one-story brick building on a sloping lot in Raleigh was designed to house streetcars, with a half-basement under its west end. Its exterior is organized by brick piers set about twenty feet apart, capped with concrete and terra cotta, between broad metal-mullioned window walls. The interior is an open industrial floor with exposed steel roof trusses. As private automobile ownership grew in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the company phased out its streetcar routes and the building was converted to store and service company vehicles. It is regarded as one of only three surviving Art Deco transportation facilities of the 1920s in Raleigh, and its streamlined design reflects the company's modern image and the growth of urban transit in the period. The building was used by the company until 1996 and is now vacant.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the building is architecturally significant at the local level as a rare, largely intact example of an Art Deco-style transportation-related facility in Raleigh, where few buildings of that style were erected before 1947. It is also linked to the history of the city's electric streetcar system and the company's expansion in the 1920s.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 97001304, listed October 30, 1997. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 116 N. West St., Raleigh |
|---|---|
| County | Wake County |
| Listed | October 30, 1997 |
| Reference number | 97001304 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1925-1947 |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Transportation |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Vacant; the building was used by Carolina Power and Light to store company vehicles until 1996 and plans for its adaptive use are underway. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 35.78254, -78.64535 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 97001304.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q20708424
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.