A distinctive accent in Durham’s skyline, the 17-story skyscraper reiterates in somewhat more conservative form the dramatic ziggurat form and Art Deco details of Shreve and Lamb’s Reynolds Building (1927-1929) in Winston-Salem and Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon’s iconic Empire State Building in New York. It was built for John Sprunt Hill for the Home Savings and Trust Company and provided employment for workers and suppliers in the Great Depression. Although several sources suggest that Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon took a direct role in the project, an advertisement in the Charlotte Observer of April 26, 1937, pictured the skyscraper and cited “ George Watts Carr/Architect” and “Syska and Hennessy, Consulting Engineer.” It later became the Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company, of which John Sprunt Hill’s son, George Watts Hill, Sr. was president. It has been renovated as a fine hotel.