Jefferson Standard Building

Last updated

Jefferson Standard Building
Jefferson Standard Building, Greensboro, NC.jpg
The building in 2019
USA North Carolina location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationElm and Market Sts., Greensboro, North Carolina
Coordinates 36°4′22″N79°47′32″W / 36.07278°N 79.79222°W / 36.07278; -79.79222
Built1922
Architect Hartmann, Charles C.
Architectural styleRomanesque, Skyscraper
NRHP reference No. 76001326 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 28, 1976

The Jefferson Standard Building is a 374 ft (114m) skyscraper in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was completed in 1923 as the headquarters for Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Co. (now known as Lincoln Financial Group) and has 18 floors. Until it was superseded by the Nissen Building in Winston-Salem in 1927, it was the tallest building in North Carolina (succeeding the Independence Building in Charlotte) and the tallest building between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

A 20-story addition first known as the Jefferson-Pilot Building and later the Lincoln Financial Building was finished in 1990. [5]

History

1923 advertisement showing the building, then under construction Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company advertisement, 1923.png
1923 advertisement showing the building, then under construction

Julian Price, president of Jefferson Standard Life Insurance, asked New York City architect Charles C. Hartmann to design his company's new headquarters. [6] Price paid for the building in full because he did not believe in debt. [3] The Jefferson Standard Building copied the Equitable Building in its use of a U-shape allowing more light and air into more of the building. [6] The exterior is terra cotta and granite. Architectural styles include Neo-Gothic, Neo-Classical and Art Deco. [2] The terra cotta tile facade incorporates Beaux-Arts and Romanesque characteristics. Above the doorway is a bust of Thomas Jefferson, for whom the company was named, with Buffalo nickels on either side of ground floor windows to represent thrift and economy. [6] [7] The corridors used "23 carloads of marble". [8]

In 1930, Jefferson Standard gained a controlling interest in Pilot Life Insurance Co. In 1967, Pilot Life Insurance Co. and Jefferson Standard became Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, and 800 Pilot Life employees moved from the Pilot Life buildings, which were built in Sedgefield, North Carolina in the 1920s, into the Jefferson Standard Building and its 20-story addition in 1990. [3] [9] [10]

Jefferson-Pilot merged with Lincoln Financial Group in 2006. The buildings remain the headquarters for the company's life insurance operations, though the company headquarters moved to Philadelphia. [11]

In October 2009, a limited edition cover of Acme Comics G-Man Cape Crisis #2 showed the 1990 Lincoln Financial insurance division headquarters (formerly the Jefferson-Pilot Building), with G-Man fighting the Acme Bat. Chris Giarusso drew the cover, which recalled Superman fighting Spider-Man in 1976. A special appearance by Giarusso at the Greensboro Acme Comics store marked the cover's release on October 24. Also present were Gregg Schigiel (whose work includes SpongeBob SquarePants), Jacob Chabot (Mighty Skullboy Army), Brian Smith (Stuff of Legend) and Art Baltazar ( Tiny Titans ). [12] [13]

Lincoln Financial Building

The Lincoln Financial Building, built as an addition to the Jefferson Standard Building The Lincoln Financial Building, Greensboro, NC.jpg
The Lincoln Financial Building, built as an addition to the Jefferson Standard Building

A 20-story addition to the Jefferson Standard Building, officially known as the Lincoln Financial Building, opened in 1990. Originally known as the Jefferson-Pilot Building, the 384,993 ft² building was designed by the architectural firm Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart and constructed by the Hardin Construction Group. [14] The Lincoln Financial Building, which is the tallest building in Greensboro, was constructed in a Gothic Revival architecture style to match the existing Jefferson Standard Building, a rarity for buildings constructed at the end of the 20th century.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln National Corporation</span> American insurance and investment management company

Lincoln National Corporation is a Fortune 200 American holding company, which operates multiple insurance and investment management businesses through subsidiary companies. Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for LNC and its subsidiary companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Building (Detroit)</span> Commercial offices in Detroit, Michigan

The Ford Building is a high-rise office building located at 615 Griswold Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It stands at the northwest corner of Congress and Griswold Streets, in the heart of Detroit's Financial District. The Penobscot Building abuts the building to the north, and the Guardian Building is southeast across Griswold Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntington Tower</span> Office building in Akron, Ohio, United States

Huntington Tower, earlier known as FirstMerit Tower,First National Bank Building, the First Central Tower and the First Central Trust Building, is a skyscraper in Akron, Ohio. The centerpiece of downtown Akron, it sits in the Cascade Plaza at the corner of King James Way and East Mill Street. The 330 ft (100 m) tower has been the city's tallest building since its completion in 1931.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadillac Tower</span> Skyscraper in Detroit

The Cadillac Tower is a 40-story, 133.4 m (438 ft) Neo-Gothic skyscraper designed by the architectural firm of Bonnah & Chaffee at 65 Cadillac Square in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The building's materials include terra cotta and brick. It was built in 1927 as Barlum Tower. At the top of the tower is a tall guyed mast for local radio stations WMXD, WLLZ and television station WLPC-CD. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chrysler House</span> Skyscraper in Detroit

Chrysler House is a 23-story, 325-foot (99 m) skyscraper located at 719 Griswold Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. The building is adjacent to the Penobscot Building in the heart of the U.S. designated Detroit Financial District. It is used as an office building, with retail space on the street level. It was originally known as the Dime Building but has carried numerous names over the years.

The Penobscot Building Annex is a 23-story, 94.49 m (310.0 ft) office skyscraper located at 144 West Congress Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. This portion of the Penobscot Block is now physically connected to the newer Penobscot Building Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Market Center (San Francisco)</span> Complex comprising two skyscrapers at 555–575 Market Street in downtown San Francisco

Market Center, formerly known as the Standard Oil Buildings and later the Chevron Towers, is a complex comprising two skyscrapers at 555–575 Market Street in the Financial District of downtown San Francisco, California. It served as the headquarters of the Chevron Corporation until 2001. As of 2021, it is owned by Paramount Group, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">320 South Boston Building</span> High-rise building located in downtown Tulsa

The 320 South Boston Building is a 22-story high-rise building located in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was originally constructed at the corner of Third Street and Boston Avenue as a ten-story headquarters building for the Exchange National Bank of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1917, and expanded to its present dimensions in 1929. The addition brought the building's height to 400 feet (122 m), making it the tallest building in Oklahoma. It lost this distinction in 1931, but remained the tallest building in Tulsa until Fourth National Bank was completed in 1967. It is now included in the Oil Capital Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public Service Building (Portland, Oregon)</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Public Service Building is a historic 67.06 m (220.0 ft), 15-story office building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The building and its attached parking garage have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Public Service Building and Garage since 1996. It was built to house the offices of the Portland Gas and Coke Company and the Pacific Power and Light Company. The building's name reflects the fact that these utilities were "public services". A space in the Public Service Building fronting the corner of Salmon and Sixth streets became the first Niketown store.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praetorian Building</span> Commercial offices in Dallas, Texas

The Praetorian Building, also known as Stone Place Tower, was a 15-story, 58 m (190 ft) high-rise constructed in 1909 at Main Street and Stone Street in the Main Street District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It was regarded the first skyscraper in Texas and the first skyscraper in the Southwestern United States. It was among the first skyscrapers built in the entire Western United States, following the 1885 Lumber Exchange Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota and other taller towers in Minneapolis, San Francisco, Omaha, and Kansas City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tower Life Building</span> Office building in San Antonio, TX

Tower Life Building is a 31-story building and a historical landmark in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA. Completed in 1929 and standing at 404 feet (123 m) tall, Tower Life Building was the tallest building and structure in San Antonio until the Tower of the Americas was completed in 1968, and the Marriott Rivercenter surpassed it as the tallest building in San Antonio in 1988. As of 2023, Tower Life Building is the 4th tallest building in San Antonio and the tallest eight-sided structure in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reynolds Building</span> United States historic place

The Reynolds Building is a 314-foot (96 m) Art Deco skyscraper at 51 East 4th Street in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was completed in 1929 and has 21 floors with 313,996 square feet (29,171.2 m2) of space. For much of its history the building served as headquarters for R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. After a sale to PMC Property Group in 2014, the building went through an estimated $60 million in renovations. In March 2016, The Residences @ the R.J. Reynolds Building, apartments located on the top 11 floors, opened. The first six floors opened as the Kimpton Cardinal Hotel in April. Katharine Brasserie & Bar, a restaurant named for Katharine Smith Reynolds, followed in May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">121 Atlantic Place</span>

121 Atlantic Place, formerly the Atlantic National Bank Building, is a historic skyscraper in Jacksonville, Florida. It was built in 1909 as the headquarters for the Atlantic National Bank, and is located at 121 West Forsyth Street. It was the tallest building in Jacksonville and in Florida from 1909 to 1912, and remains an office building today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln American Tower</span>

The Lincoln American Tower is a 22-story building located at the corner of North Main and Court streets in Memphis, Tennessee. It is also a historical landmark, one of the first steel frame skyscrapers built in Memphis. The tower underwent a six-year refurbishing project starting in 2002, and despite a fire in 2006, is now open and accepting tenants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building</span> Residential apartments in Baltimore, Maryland

The Baltimore Gas and Electric Company Building is a historic office building located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is the former headquarters of the old Consolidated Gas, Light and Electric Power Company of Baltimore City, which was a merger at the turn of the 20th century of the former century old Gas Light Company of Baltimore with several other formerly competing gas and electric power companies which had risen in the late 19th century, to form a single metropolitan wide unified utility system. In 1955, the old cumbersome Consolidated title was jettisoned and the utility rebranded as the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BG&E).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detroit Financial District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Detroit Financial District is a United States historic district in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The district was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 14, 2009, and was announced as the featured listing in the National Park Service's weekly list of December 24, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mincks-Adams Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Mincks-Adams Hotel is located one block west of the Oil Capital Historic District, at 403 Cheyenne Avenue in Downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was constructed in 1927–1928 by businessman I. S. "Ike" Mincks and named the Mincks Hotel. It was a luxury hotel intended to attract businessmen, and was opened for guests in time for the first International Petroleum Exposition. Mincks declared bankruptcy in 1935. The hotel was sold at a liquidation sale and subsequently reopened under new ownership as the Adams Hotel. It was converted to the Adams Office Tower in the early 1980s. The building is noted for its architecture and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criterion C on November 7, 1977, with NRIS number 78002273.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phenix Building (Chicago)</span> High-rise office in Chicago, Illinois

The PhenixBuilding was an office building in Chicago designed by the noted Chicago architectural firm of Burnham and Root. It was built by the Phenix Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Brooklyn, New York and occupied the block fronting Jackson Boulevard between Pacific Avenue and Clark Street. When completed in 1887, the building was seen as "the latest addition to Chicago's magnificent architectural structures". It was later owned by the Western Union Telegraph Company, who sold the building to the manufacturer and philanthropist Frederick C. Austin (1853-1931) in 1922. Austin donated it to Northwestern University in 1929 with the understanding that the income derived from it would "provide scholarships for the training of business executives". The building was demolished in 1957 and replaced by what today is known as the TransUnion Building, a twenty-four story office building designed by A. Epstein and Sons.

Pilot Life Insurance Company Home Office in Sedgefield, North Carolina outside Greensboro is a historic campus which once served as the headquarters of Pilot Life Insurance Company, founded in 1903 and merged with Jefferson Standard Insurance in 1967 to form Jefferson Pilot Corporation. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in July 2022.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Jefferson Standard Building, Greensboro | 128533 | EMPORIS". Emporis . Archived from the original on February 15, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. 1 2 3 "History of Jefferson-Pilot Corporation – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com.
  4. "Jackson Building, Asheville | 129376 | EMPORIS". Emporis . Archived from the original on September 18, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. "Greensboro: History - City Named for Revolutionary Hero". www.city-data.com.
  6. 1 2 3 "JeffersonStandard". Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
  7. Ruth Little-Stokes and McKelden Smith (December 1975). "Jefferson Standard Building" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  8. Barron, Richard (October 7, 2017). "Sale of News & Record property part of a newspaper industry trend". News & Record . Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  9. Old Pilot Life HQ to be retirement center," News and Record, August 13, 2008.
  10. Taft Wireback, "Big project planned for Pilot life campus," News and Record, January 16, 2015.
  11. "Jefferson-Pilot Shareholders Approve Lincoln Financial Merger," Triangle Business Journal, March 20, 2006.
  12. "Comic book cover to feature downtown building". News & Record . September 16, 2009. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
  13. Wolford, Jerry (October 25, 2009). "Greensboro featured on comic book cover". News & Record . Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
  14. "Lincoln Financial Building". The Skyscraper Center.