Afro-American Insurance Company Building
National Register Listing
Street Address:
558 S. Dave Lyle Blvd., Rock Hill, SC (York County)
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817746026
Description and Narrative:
The Afro-American Insurance Company Building was constructed about 1909 to house the local office of the Afro-American Insurance Company. This company, with offices in several southeastern states, was one of several insurance companies owned and operated by African Americans marketing to African American communities. The company’s building in Rock Hill became an impressive symbol of the aspirations for commercial success among many African American leaders. It also was evidence of the growing market for business and financial services within the emerging African American middle class. The building is the design of William W. Smith of Charlotte, an important African American designer and builder in the region. Because most buildings that historically housed African American businesses in Rock Hill have been destroyed through urban renewal programs, the Afro-American Insurance Company Building has added significance as perhaps the most important surviving example of a commercial building related to the African American community of the early twentieth century. It is a two-story commercial building of brick laid in common bond. The façade has a tan brick veneer, while the sides and rear are in red brick. The façade has brick quoining at the corners and a corbelled brick cornice and center parapet with recessed panel. Listed in the National Register June 10, 1992.
Period of Significance:
circa 1909
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Commerce;Architecture;Ethnic Heritage: Black
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
June 10 1992
