Lukens Main Office Building
Why it's listed
Built in 1902 at 50 South First Avenue in Coatesville, the Lukens Main Office Building is a seven-bay, two-and-a-half-story brick office in the Georgian Revival style, laid in Flemish bond under a hipped roof. Its centre entrance has a flat-roofed Doric portico, and the interior is organised around a 25 by 45 foot entrance lobby with a monumental open-string stair. Unpainted oak finishes the lobby and most major rooms, and the seven principal offices had working fireplaces with carved mantels. A rear addition of 1916 by Page and Stewardson turned the plan into an H shape. The building is regarded as a well-preserved example of commercial Georgian Revival design. It was built for the Lukens Steel Company, and the nomination stresses how it adapts traditional forms to steel framing and concrete floors for a purely business use.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the building is significant to American architectural history as a commercial example of the Georgian Revival, a style it says was important to a new, more highly developed industrial economy. It states that the design uses traditional elements in new ways, combining steel girders and concrete floors with a structure devoted entirely to business purposes. The front section is also described as an example of the work of Cope and Stewardson, a firm known for stone buildings in the Collegiate Gothic idiom.
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 76001624, listed May 24, 1976. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 50 S. 1st Ave., Coatesville |
|---|---|
| County | Chester County |
| Listed | May 24, 1976 |
| Reference number | 76001624 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1902-1916 |
| Architect / builder | Cope and Stewardson (1902); Page and Stewardson (1916 addition) |
| Architectural style | Georgian Revival |
| Criteria |
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| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Well maintained, according to the nomination's comments; the form also lists the building as in use for commercial purposes. |
| Acreage | 1.8 |
| Within district | Coatesville Historic District |
| Coordinates | 39.98189, -75.82335 (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.
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 76001624.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6702515
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.