The Jefferson Standard Building is a 374 ft (114m) skyscraper in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

. It was completed in 1923 as the headquarters for Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Co. (now known as

Lincoln Financial Group 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 subsi ...

) and has 18 floors. Until it was superseded by the Nissen Building in

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

in 1927, it was the tallest building in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

(succeeding the

Independence Building The Independence Building was a high-rise in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. It was built in 1909 by J.A. Jones Construction and imploded on September 27, 1981 to make way for 101 Independence Center. It originall ...

in Charlotte) and the tallest building between

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. It was named to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1976. A 20-story addition first known as the Jefferson-Pilot Building and later the Lincoln Financial Building was finished in 1990.

History

Julian Price Julian Price (November 25, 1867 – October 25, 1946) was an insurance executive who made his fortune in the first part of the twentieth century by developing the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company. Adult life and career Price was ...

, president of Jefferson Standard Life Insurance, asked

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

architect Charles C. Hartmann to design his company's new headquarters. Price paid for the building in full because he did not believe in debt. 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. The exterior is

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

and

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. Architectural styles include

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

, Neo-Classical and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

. The terra cotta tile facade incorporates Beaux-Arts and Romanesque characteristics. Above the doorway is a bust of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

, for whom the company was named, with Buffalo nickels on either side of ground floor windows to represent thrift and economy. The corridors used "23 carloads of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

". 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. 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 Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In October 2009, a

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...

cover of Acme Comics

G-Man ''G-man'' (short for "government man", plural ''G-men'') is an American slang term for agents of the United States Government. It is especially used as a term for an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). ''G-man'' is also a term ...

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 Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

fighting

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

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 ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

), Jacob Chabot (''Mighty Skullboy Army''), Brian Smith (''Stuff of Legend'') and

Art Baltazar Arthee "Art" Baltazar (born 1968) is an American comics artist and writer who currently works for DC Comics. Career Art Baltazar started making comic books with his self-published comic book, ''The Cray-Baby Adventures''. Since then he has cr ...

(''

Tiny Titans ''Tiny Titans'' is a comic book series by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani.2009 Eisner Award winners< ...

'').

Lincoln Financial 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 Smallwood is an American architectural firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1979, the company has approximately 108 total employees across all of its locations and generates $25.00 million in sales (USD). There are 2 companies in the Sm ...

and constructed by the Hardin Construction Group. The Lincoln Financial Building, which is the tallest building in Greensboro, was constructed in a

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style to match the existing Jefferson Standard Building, a rarity for buildings constructed at the end of the 20th century.

References

External links

Photo of Jefferson-Pilot building
{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Skyscrapers in Greensboro, North Carolina Skyscraper office buildings in North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Guilford County, North Carolina Office buildings completed in 1923