Crescent Laundry

The Crescent Laundry contains two primary buildings constructed in 1927 and 1928 to serve the needs of the laundry's growing client base during one of Tyler's most prosperous eras. A third, existing building constructed about 1935 was added to the complex by 1951; a non-contributing metal shelter over a parking area was added about 1970. Tyler architect Roy T. Nunamaker designed the signature one-story, domed Moorish Revival style dry cleaning building with its crescent moon tile detail in 1928, creating the city's only known example of the Exotic Revival style. It is likely that Nunamaker also designed the one-story utilitarian 1927 laundry facility. The designer of the one-story office building built about 1935 is not known. Financed by laundry owner Walter P. Jones, Sr., and his partners, The Crescent Laundry served residential and industrial customers on this site from 1927 until it closed in 2000. As Tyler's population and prosperity increased in the 1920s, The Crescent Laundry, which was started in 1923 by five partners, quickly outgrew its original plant prompting the construction of the present complex. With an economy grounded in agriculture, manufacturing, and distribution, local entrepreneurs were confident in the late 1920s of continuing prosperity. However, unlike most of the country, predictions by Tyler businessmen came true when the discovery of the East Texas Oil Field in 1930-31 created a whole new industry in the region and largely pushed the hardships of the Great Depression out of Tyler and East Texas. The dry cleaning plant's design and stylistic treatment are significant for its modest interpretation of the Moorish Revival style and is a reference to the company name. The laundry building and the office also are significant for their design as examples of utilitarian components within the complex. All three buildings are significant for their associations with the Tyler business community during a period of rapid population growth and economic development. Related to the historical context of Community Development in Tyler, Smith County, Texas 1846-1950, the complex is categorized as a commercial resource. The Crescent Laundry complex includes the only known Exotic Revival style building in Tyler and is the only surviving laundry facility to retain its integrity. The Crescent Laundry is in good condition and retains a high degree of integrity. It derives its primary significance from its architectural forms and its association with Tyler's agriculture, manufacturing, and oil boom economy which fostered intensive community development. For these reasons, the Crescent Laundry is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level under Criteria A and C in the areas of significance of community development and architecture within a period of significance extending from 1927 to 1952.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN TYLER

Settled in 1846 when Smith County was created from Nacogdoches County, Tyler incorporated in 1850 and served as the seat of Smith County as well as the site of branches of State and Federal courts. From its earliest settlement in the 1840s, when businesses located around the courthouse square, until the arrival of the railroad in 1873 the marketing and shipping of Smith County agricultural products formed the basis for Tyler's economy. But almost at once, this base was augmented by small-scale manufacturing such as blacksmithing, milling, logging and tanning as well as legal and government services. As a result, Tyler's economy was diversified at an early date, even though the scope was small and the territory served was limited. With the arrival of the International & Great Northern Railroad in 1873 and the establishment of the Tyler Tap Railroad in 1877 and its subsequent merger into the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt, thereafter), manufacturing, food processing, food distribution, saw and planing mills, and banking and insurance firms became important components of Tyler's economy. The railroad made an enormous impact on Tyler and the surrounding area, more than doubling business. In the late 19th century this diverse economy fostered 15 labor unions representing workers in various fields. Local bank failure occurred in 1891 and then the nationwide Panic of '93 slowed the economy. However, by mid-decade economic troubles eased and Tyler's position as a Federal, state and local government and legal services center bolstered the economy and Tyler's influence statewide. "During the last quarter of the nineteenth century Tyler enjoyed a reputation as the political capital of Texas: the so-called 'Tyler Crowd' furnished governors, senators and lesser officials galore, and for more than a generation, its influence in both [Democratic] party and state affairs had to be reckoned with."

The area around the courthouse square remains Tyler's commercial core and retains many pre-1900 buildings. However, most have been altered with facade modernizations dating to the 1950s and 1960s. These changes significantly modify the understanding of the original, or historically significant, roles of many buildings. A few downtown buildings have been restored or rehabilitated to reveal underlying historic fabric that once again connects the historical record with the physical artifact. Additional buildings may benefit from future restoration. Among the few unaltered surviving 19th-century commercial buildings in Tyler is the one-story brick Kamel Building on East Ferguson Street, just off the square. Surviving, intact early 20th-century commercial warehouse buildings include the Moore Grocery Co. and the Tyler Grocery Co. buildings on adjacent North Broadway parcels.

Throughout the 1890s and for the next 30 years, agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail commerce, banking, insurance and legal services continued to fuel the economy. The Tyler Chamber of Commerce was established in 1900 as the Tyler Commercial Club to promote business interests. Meat processing, storage and shipment, canning, storage and distribution of grain, fruit, and vegetables were joined by several wholesale grocery firms in the early 1900s including the Moore Grocery Company, which was established prior to 1900. The wholesale grocery industry expanded in 1903 when John B. Mayfield, a resident of what would become the Charnwood Residential Historic District started a second wholesale grocery, the Mayfield Grocer Co. By 1914 Mayfield's firm had grown to six branch facilities. Telephone service was established in Tyler in 1896, and Tyler had two phone companies until the 1940s. One was the S.A. Lindsey Telephone Company, which by 1905 had 25 miles of telephone lines in the city. Samuel A. Lindsey was a prominent attorney, judge and businessman also involved in land speculation in south Tyler including the area that would become part of the Azalea District. In 1932 Lindsey developed the 15-story People's National Bank, a Tyler landmark and testament to the community's economic health during one of the worst years of the Great Depression.

Better roads throughout Texas facilitated commerce and in 1918 a Tyler-Dallas motor truck service was established to carry freight and passengers. The seven-hour, 106-mile trip included several stops. As roads continued to improve truck, bus and auto travel became more attractive spurred by the 1920s development of gas stations and vehicle repair garages throughout central Tyler. By the mid-1920s Tyler retail enterprises included 30 businesses involving the automobile, eight auto salesrooms, five hotels, 12 barber shops, four bakeries, 18 cafes and restaurants, eight furniture stores, six hardware stores, 27 grocers, three theaters, eight shoe stores, 10 drug stores, three large department stores, three banks, 24 drygoods stores and many more. Suburban development included neighborhood grocery stores, dry cleaners, laundries and other service establishments. Tyler remained a legal center with a U.S. District Court, as well as the various Smith County courts; none of the associated buildings survive. The Blackstone Hotel opened in 1921 and was demolished in 1985; a parking lot now occupies the site. Its companion, the 1938 Blackstone Building, survives on North Broadway. It included offices and Tyler's first union bus station. The Tyler Chapter of the Texas Association of Business was established in 1922 in response to a booming business climate. The Crescent Laundry relocated within Tyler and built a modern plant to accommodate a growing business. In the late 1920s, the Minnelee Bus Lines operated from 110 North Broadway (Tyler Public Library), providing inter-city transit service. In 1929 the Jenkins-Harvey Super Service Station and Garage was erected to serve the growing number of motorists. Between 1920 and 1930, significant growth in Tyler and Smith County occurred in dairying operations. Rose culture remained important and developed more rapidly after irrigation was introduced in 1924. Tomatoes, pecans, and peanuts also became important crops. Two fertilizer plants used cottonseed meal to make their products, and the Sledge Manufacturing Co. had more than 100 employees.

In 1930, Tyler was on the threshold of its greatest economic era, a 30-year-plus period of unprecedented growth and development. In October 1930 oil was found in nearby Rusk County when Dad Joiner's Daisy Bradford #3 proved to be a producing well. In March 1931 Guy Vernon Lewis brought in the first producing oil well in Smith County, located near the community of Arp, southeast of Tyler. As more wells came in drillers, riggers, geologists, pipers, surveyors and others moved to Tyler, and refineries and exploration companies developed headquarters in Tyler. The boom affected just about every aspect of life in East Texas, and oil added greatly to the Tyler and Smith County economies. While the population increased from 9, 255 in 1920 to 13,009 in 1930, Tyler received a huge influx of people between 1930 and 1950. In 1940 the population reached 20, 879 and in 1950 it had grown to 28, 854 (U.S. Census). The population continued to increase through the 1950s and 1960s.

Tyler benefited greatly from the discovery of the East Texas Oil Field. As the largest town in the five-county oil field area before the oil boom, it provided the most developed infrastructure and a wide range of business and professional services. At the junction of several states and U.S. Highways, Tyler had good communications, rail and truck service, a number of banks and related financial institutions, hotel and office space, a system of paved roads, and a variety of neighborhoods offering housing types to people of all income levels. As a result, Tyler became the East Texas headquarters for many oil companies beginning with the discovery of the Van gas field west of Tyler in the 1920s expanding the need for almost every type of business and service industry. With the discovery of the East Texas field in 1930-31, 33 companies established offices in Tyler and almost all of the larger independent operators in the field set up land-leasing headquarters. Although Tyler had several office buildings and two large hotels, the Tyler and the Blackstone, neither existing hotel rooms nor the office space would prove adequate to meet new demands. In 1932 Samuel A. Lindsey, Chairman of the Board of People's National Bank, financed the construction of a 15-story bank and office building immediately west of the courthouse. In 1932 "the Blackstone [Hotel] added nine stories to accommodate the newcomers", and in 1938 Edmond P. McKenna, owner of the Blackstone Hotel, and a group of investors active in the Chamber of Commerce financed the construction of the Blackstone Building, containing a union bus terminal on the first floor and five floors of office space.

The East Texas Field fostered the construction of refineries, and a rail network around the field made it possible to move the oil efficiently. The field's crude oil was of good quality needing only minimal equipment to make gasoline. At least 95 small refineries were initially built, but after a few years as production evened out, that number dropped to 76. One of these was just east of downtown Tyler. Called LaGloria, the refinery turned out gasoline and originally was known as the McMurrey Refinery; it remains in operation. Trucking also became big business, with big rigs hauling gasoline from local refineries.

Legal services became even more important after the discovery of oil as related lawsuits and corporate activities surged; the need for office space grew. Throughout the 1930s agriculture, especially dairying, was important to Tyler's economy. By the mid-1930s, 48 dairies had permits to retail or wholesale dairy products in Tyler. Roses, blackberries, peaches, pecans, and vegetables also were important local crops. Lumber and related milled wood products significantly contributed to local prosperity with 25 sawmills county-wide in 1937. Additional principal industries in the county in the 1930s included canning factories, foundries, machine shops, a rail car factory, a grist mill, peanut products, and the manufacturing of crates, boxes mattresses, work clothing and house dresses. Services included 16 passenger auto agencies, six commercial auto agencies, 19 auto tire dealers, seven bakers, 33 cigar stands, 36 confectioners, 13 delicatessens, 15 department stores, 26 druggists, 38 dry goods stores 134 independent grocers and seven chain grocers, seven lumber companies, and 59 restaurants, and a pottery, and several laundries and dry cleaners, among many others.

In the 1940s oil and gas production and services related to that industry were the primary economic engines. In February 1940, the East Texas Industrial Exhibit Association sponsored the second annual Industrial Exhibit to showcase Tyler's manufacturing, distribution, and service capabilities. In addition, a number of local industries expanded in 1940, adding more space and personnel. Prominent among these are Sledge Manufacturing Company and Tyler Iron and Foundry Company. Both had government contracts associated with pre-World War II mobilization activities. Surveys were made of plant and tool capacities in Tyler to assist local firms in securing national defense contracts. To attract business and support local companies seeking government work, the Tyler Chamber of Commerce's Industrial Committee prepared facts and statistics for certain defense industries sending briefs to government bureaus and agencies reporting the advantages of Tyler including its large supply of surface water and underground water available from reservoirs at Blackburn Dam on the Neches and Prairie Creek Reservoir in Smith County.

Writing in the early 1940s, Tyler's business boosters could boast of the community's great economic advantages. The Chamber of Commerce described Tyler as the "Center of the East Texas Oil Industry," a statement well founded. "The people of Tyler and of all other cities and towns within or adjacent to the oil field have been told that they have not known what the late depression meant" (Tyler Public Library e). As a result of the boom, Tyler's school population increased from 4,261 students in 1930 to more than 6,000 in 1936. Assessed valuations for 1930 were $17,477,254, for 1935 they were $28,679,113. While prosperity was a reality for those involved in the oil business, other aspects of the economy were affected, with minorities, unskilled laborers, and tenant farmers largely bypassed by the boom.

As important as the East Texas field was to the local and regional economy it proved vital to the success of the Allies in World War II. Texas oil fields produced 80 percent of all oil needed by the Allies, and the East Texas Field provided the central portion. As World War II began, oil producers and the government realized overland transit of oil was the only safe way to ship oil from the fields to East Coast ports, from where it would be transferred to the battlefront. To secure transit, two pipelines were laid, one from the East Texas Field to the refineries of New York and the Philadelphia area, stretching about 1,400 miles. Called Big Inch, it measured 24 inches in diameter and every day during the war it delivered almost 300,000 barrels of crude oil. The other pipeline was known as Little Inch, and it measured 20 inches in diameter. It ran from Beaumont to Big Inch near Little Rock, Arkansas. From there it paralleled Big Inch eastward. Every day of the war it delivered almost 200,000 barrels of aviation gasoline, motor gasoline and other refined products for use by the Allies. U.S. military presence also fueled the Tyler economy through the local Signal Corps Radio Operator Training School, the U.S. government's lease of the Tyler airport for use as a government field, and the establishment in 1943 of Camp Fannin, an infantry training center northeast of Tyler that employed 2,500 civilians. In 1945, the camp became a military separation center and the airport returned to civilian use.

By the mid-1940s Tyler had three banks, two large hotels--the Blackstone with 200 rooms and the Tyler with 75 rooms--offices of more than 30 oil companies, refineries, garment factories, box and crate factories, canning plants, an airport, two commercial colleges, two colleges for African Americans--Butler College and Texas College, one daily and one weekly newspaper, two rail lines, four bus lines and several truck freight lines. Residential development boomed with new areas of substantial brick dwellings in revival styles appearing in south Tyler and northwest Tyler. One of the city's most visible neighborhoods from this era is the Azalea District, in south-central Tyler, which contains a large concentration of Tudor Revival and Colonial Revival brick dwellings. This area was Tyler's elite address between the 1930s and early 1960s, housing oil company executives, oil entrepreneurs and others associated with the oil industry or made wealthy by it. It remains one of the community's most prestigious residential neighborhoods.

Oil and gas, industrial and manufacturing enterprises, and the machine shops of the St. Louis and Southwest Railway (Cotton Belt) were Tyler's primary post-World War II businesses. The railroad was the largest industrial employer in the city in 1947 with 523 employees and an annual payroll of more than $1,000,000. Other large firms included the Sledge Manufacturing Co., the Woldert Company, the Tyler Pipe and Foundry Company, the McMurrey Refining Co., Delta Drilling Co., Thompson Manufacturing Co., the Richardson Co., the Bryant Heater Co., American Clay Forming Co., the East Texas Cotton Oil Co., and the East Texas Crate and Basket Manufacturing Co. The Mayfield Grocery Co., still in business with four branch offices, was joined by two competitors. The Wadel-Connally Co., a wholesale hardware distributor, had nine branch offices. In the late 1940s, the State of Texas located a tuberculosis sanitarium at former Camp Fannin (later the Tyler Chest Hospital and now University of Texas, Tyler Health Center), and the McMurrey Refinery announced plans to build a $40,000 plant in Smith County. Both facilities added to Tyler's economic diversity and created new jobs. Business and residential development continued as new office buildings were erected in the late 1940s and the 1950s. One of the most visible is the 1953 modernist Petroleum Building on South Broadway. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, a prominent social and service club present in Tyler since 1891 erected a Modernist lodge building in 1949 on south Broadway, opening its doors to the community for dances, private parties and other social activities. Residential construction continued as in-fill in established neighborhoods throughout south Tyler, including the Azalea District and in northwest Tyler. New neighborhoods of tract-type housing also appeared in southeast Tyler and northwest Tyler.

By the end of 1931, there were 3,607 wells in the East Texas field, and more than 109,000,000 barrels of oil were produced. Members of the Texas Geological Society met in Tyler on December 17, 1931, and 59 geologists gave papers estimating the field's potential barrels. The average estimate was 2.1 billion barrels. In time the field proved to have far more oil than these experts predicted. "Cumulative production of crude oil and natural gas liquids in northeastern Texas through 1950 was approximately 4 billion barrels. By January 1, 1993, when the Texas Railroad Commission calculated the field at 100 percent production, it had produced more than 5 billion barrels of oil. After more than 60 years, some wells still operate.

THE CRESCENT LAUNDRY

The Crescent Laundry was built in 1927 and 1928 and a third, existing building on an adjacent lot was added prior to 1951. The laundry building at the corner of North Center Avenue and East Ferguson Street was the first to be erected in January 1927 at an approximate cost of $12,400 (City of Tyler). In December 1928 the emblematic dry-cleaning building was built for $6,800 (City of Tyler). These two buildings contained all business operations for several years; prior to 1951, a former hardware store adjacent to the dry cleaning plant was added to the complex. It was used for offices and as the customer service location for walk-in customers. The laundry complex developed in response to a booming economy that steadily increased the population and demand for services in Tyler between 1920 and 1960. Located on lots 10, 11 and 12 of Block 16, the laundry complex is within the Issac Lollar Survey on land owned between 1876 and 1904 by Texas Governor Richard B. Hubbard and his heirs (Smith County Historical Society). The laundry complex replaced the Hubbard residence and two smaller rental houses.

The Crescent Laundry was formed in April 1923 when Walter P. Jones, Sr., Earl M. Andrews, Roy E. Owens, O.W. Humphrey, and E. M. Whiteside organized a partnership and began operating out of a wood frame building on East Erwin Street. In the first few years business increased from two or three routes of residential customers to several trucks servicing many routes within Tyler and soon outgrew its original plant on East Erwin Street. By 1925 one partner had left the business and the partnership was headed by Walter P. Jones Sr. with Roy E. Owens, Earl M. Andrews and O. W. Humphrey as associates. That year the men purchased a portion of lot 2 in Block 16 and in 1926 bought lots 10 and 11. Jones took out the building permit for the laundry building on January 3, 1927. In October 1928 the laundry company purchased more property in Block 16 and immediately took out a loan with the Texas Building and Loan Association, presumably to finance construction of the dry cleaning building, which was begun on December 20, 1928. Roy T. Nunamaker, a Tyler architect is credited as the designer of the dry-cleaning building; Campbell & White, a successful Tyler contracting firm is listed as the builder. It is likely that Nunamaker also designed the laundry building although no architect or contractor appears on that building permit. By 1930 the firm was issuing stock to the partners under its corporate name: The Crescent Laundry, Inc. (Jones Family Papers). The Crescent Laundry, Inc. is the entity that continues to own the property, for many years under the sole control of the Jones family. The third building, containing company offices and customer service facilities, was built about 1935 by an unknown contractor and originally used as a hardware and plumbing supply store. The Crescent Laundry acquired it sometime prior to 1951 (Smith County Historical Society) and converted it for use as part of their operations.

Although business in most areas of the United States plummeted with the onset of the Great Depression, Tyler's economy suffered less than many communities and The Crescent Laundry continued to operate. When oil was discovered in 1930-31, and thousands of people moved into Tyler and East Texas, The Crescent Laundry's business grew quickly. The laundry would "...pick up the uniforms of the men in the oil fields, carry them back to the plant, launder and return the clothing". As the oil boom continued, the company's business expanded and its fleet grew to 13 trucks traveling as far as the communities of Kilgore and Van. After the opening of Camp Fannin in 1943, military uniforms and domestic laundry from soldiers' families greatly expanded the company's business, adding to the considerable volume of oil field business and domestic customers within Tyler. The business was so brisk the laundry added a night shift to handle the increased workload. The company was so successful, and sensitive to the impact of marketing, that it sponsored floats in the annual Tyler Rose Festival Parade (Smith County Historical Society) during the 1930s. The laundry employed mostly women, both African-American and Caucasian, some of whom lived in nearby areas, including the Short-Line neighborhood about six blocks west.

After World War II domestic laundry needs diminished as more families obtained home washing machines or used laundromats. Changes in fabrics also resulted in less business as polyester and other synthetic garments became popular. At the same time, many established residents of central Tyler began to relocate south of downtown to new neighborhoods that also attracted new residents to the city. The resulting decline in the retail business was offset when the laundry entered the linen rental business and added industrial clients to its customer base. Sheets, pillowcases, towels, wash clothes and other similar items were rented to motels, hotels and nursing homes. Tablecloths, napkins, aprons, and a variety of towels were made available to restaurants.

Eventually, the uniform rental was added to these services including shop towels, mats, mops and fender covers. By the 1980s The Crescent Laundry had completely eliminated residential service, concentrating instead on its rental and industrial clients. In the late 1960s, Walter P. Jones, Jr. took over management of the company from his father and continued to lead the company until his death in 2001. The Crescent Laundry closed its doors in 2000, and the property was listed for sale shortly thereafter. The complex is now vacant but each building is secured against unauthorized entry.

Erected in response to Tyler's growing agricultural economy in the late 1920s and boosted by the oil-based economy and military presence during the 1930s and 1940s, The Crescent Laundry is associated with important regional economic and development trends and an era of prosperity unprecedented in Tyler's history. It directly served thousands of residents who settled in Tyler and the surrounding area as a result of the oil industry and World War II and the business was dependent upon those customers for its continued success.

Architecturally, the laundry complex is important for its signature dry cleaning plant designed in a subdued version of the Moorish Revival style. As the only example in the city to reference the exotic architectural forms popular nationwide in the 1920s, it reveals the architect's skill and knowledge of au currant trends and provides a clever, almost programmatic, reminder of the firm's name in the crescent and star tile mosaic detailing. How the business name came to be selected is not known, but the domed Crescent Laundry building served the firm well throughout its 71 years of use, both as a component of the complex and as an advertising tool. The building's cube massing with an asymmetrical facade, dome, mosaic tile detailing in the entry portal, cast stone coping, crenelated-like parapet and Byzantine-influenced windows are primary elements in this landmark building and characteristic of the Oriental subtype (Moorish Revival) of Exotic Revival design. The dry-cleaning building is essentially a metal, brick and glass hangar-like structure with a brick office block attached to the front. The office section is arranged asymmetrically, has a flat roof and a square corner tower topped by a round dome. Within the 1 1/2-story tower is the entry, topped by a horseshoe arch, an element associated with Moorish architecture. Paired windows, pedimented windows and decorative tile provide further distinction. The laundry building is a rectangular block utilitarian in form and materials. A truss roof, steel frame enclosed by stucco-faced brick walls and metal frame windows proclaim its industrial function. The buff brick office building was designed as a one-part commercial block with flat roof, slightly raised parapet, black tile detailing and large plate glass windows in the primary facade. Its form is representative of one-part commercial blocks of the 1920s and 1930s. The flexible design permitted both retail use and office and customer service use.

Exotic Revival architecture first appeared in the United States between the years 1835 and about 1890; it reappeared in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s as Americans sought ever more ways to express themselves through historicist architectural forms. Among the Exotic subtypes are Egyptian, Oriental, Swiss Chalet, Mayan and Aztec forms. Exotic style buildings are typically cube-shaped, or a composite of cube and rectangular forms embellished with domes, arcades, decorative facade work, and specialized window detailing. While exotic forms were often applied to domestic and commercial resources, as well as industrial and institutional properties, in Tyler the dry cleaning building at The Crescent Laundry is the only known example. It belongs to the Oriental subtype, which references Middle Eastern (Moorish) and Far Eastern architecture.

NOTABLE INDIVIDUALS

Architect Roy T. Nunamaker worked in Tyler between the late 1920s and the late 1930s. While state records show him as a registered architect, almost nothing is known about his career. In 1937 he operated a building materials company at 110 Swan Street in Tyler. Tyler building permits do not list architects, making the newspaper and city directories the best, if somewhat unreliable, sources for data on architects working in Tyler.

Allen M. Campbell and Hugh E. White were prominent, successful building contractors in Tyler. They worked together in the late 1920s and early 1930s and then went on to practice individually and in other partnership arrangements. In addition to The Crescent Laundry, the partnership also worked on the 1932 People's National Bank Building. Campbell was responsible for many dwellings in Tyler, and later partnered with Luther F. Kay, Jr. Campbell, Campbell & Kay and C Construction (the successor firm) worked on the 1941, 1950, and 1984 additions to Marvin Methodist Church (NR 2000) among many other projects. Hugh E. White built the 1938 Blackstone Building, the 1949 Elks Lodge and many dwellings. Both men provided services for large public works projects throughout Texas.

The Crescent Laundry is an important local landmark signifying the relationship between community development and Tyler's prosperous agriculture, manufacturing and oil-based economy from the late 1930s through the 1950s. The dry cleaning plant--the property's signature building--was constructed in 1928 from plans drawn by Tyler architect Roy T. Nunamaker using modest Exotic Revival style design and detailing. The 1927 utilitarian laundry building was likely also designed by Nunamaker as both buildings utilize identical tan brick for exterior walls. The complex was completed by 1951 when an existing one-part buff-brick commercial building adjacent to the dry cleaning plant was acquired and turned into offices and a customer service facility. The Crescent Laundry is the only known property in Tyler to use Exotic Revival styling and it reflects the prosperity and development created by the city's diverse economy. No alterations have been made to the 1928 dry-cleaning building. It retains very high levels of integrity of location, materials, design, workmanship, feeling and association within the period of significance and is maintained in excellent condition. The main facade of the laundry building has been altered with a non-historic door and reversible modifications to the opening. Other changes to the laundry building include the pre-1951 construction of a boiler room and a maintenance room at the rear/west side of the building using buff brick. Storage facilities were attached to the boiler room after 1951 stretching the addition behind the dry cleaning building. In the 1970s a metal roof shelter was erected over the truck parking area at the rear of the site and adjacent to the laundry building. All these additions represent the evolution of the laundry and dry-cleaning business and chronicle changes necessary to meet new challenges; all could be reversed. While these alterations are partially visible from the front of the site, they are relatively unobtrusive and are most visible from the rear of the property. Despite these changes, the laundry building retains a high degree of integrity with its original steel frame windows, truss roof, skylights and brick and stucco exterior in place. It also retains a high degree of integrity of location, materials, design, workmanship, feeling and association within the period of significance and is maintained in good condition. The laundry office building has very few exterior alterations, all of which could be reversed. Changes are confined to the installation of aluminum frame plate glass windows and entry doors prior to 1952, stonework under the windows, and a 1970s Mansard-style canopy on the front facade. The laundry office maintains a high degree of integrity of location, materials, design, workmanship, feeling, and association within the period of significance and is maintained in good condition. Overall, the complex retains high levels of integrity and relates the historic appearance and functions of all three buildings during the period of significance. The setting of the laundry property has been affected by the demolition or alteration of nearby commercial buildings but these changes have heightened the property's visibility in an area of parking lots and vacant land. The Crescent Laundry remains one of Tyler's most distinctive properties and the only known intact laundry-dry cleaning facility in the city.

The Crescent Laundry conveys not only the rich heritage of early 20th-century architectural styling but also provides an understanding of community development trends driven by a growing economy. For these reasons, the nominated property is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A and C at the local level of significance. The complex is worthy of preservation as an intact local landmark that through its laundry and dry cleaning functions documents the impact of Tyler's agriculture, manufacturing and oil-based economy on local population growth and development patterns and provides interpretation of local social and architectural trends between 1927 and 1951.