101-127 S Wayne Ave

From the National Register nomination

The largest early-twentieth-century mixed-use commercial building in downtown, the Art Deco LB&B Building is prominently sited at the southwest corner of Wayne and Main. Three stories tall, the masonry building is arranged with twelve bays on the Wayne elevation and three on Main. The first story, which reads as the base of the building, features segmentally arched storefront openings set into ashlar stonework. The building's office lobby, located in a bay at mid-block, is sheltered by a suspended canopy with an egg-and-dart molding presently covered by metal panels. Three sets of double-leaf glass panel doors, set beneath transoms, provide entry to the vestibule and lobby that access the upper floors. The second and third stories of the building, with the window openings for the offices on those floors, are clad in buff-colored brick with stone and cast-stone detailing that includes vertical piers, chevron- and geometric-patterned comice panels, and a dramatic carved stone triptych depicting icons of rail, air, and water transport in low sculptural relief. The majority of the building's historic exterior fabric remains intact, although storefronts and windows have been replaced over time on the two principal facades. A rear service alley, accessing several of the storefront spaces, retains some original doors, windows, transoms, and screened doors. Construction on the Lambert, Barger & Branaman Building began during the first half of 1929. Charles Ebenezer McLear was the excavator and foundation contractor, Harry Brooks was the building contractor, and Henry Pleasants was the brick mason. According to local historian Curtis Bowman, the third story interior was not finished for a number of years, probably because of the depression. Businesses including Huwil Stores (a five-and-dime), the Overton & Smith Shoe Store, and the Wayne Grocery Co. opened in the building in November. Attorney G. H. Branaman and architect Daley Craig maintained offices in the building in the 1930s, and the Waynesboro Drug Store occupied the comer on Main and Wayne (Frazier Associates, "IL, B & B Building"; Shaw, Ranzini and Wood, "Waynesboro Downtown Historic District"; Bowman, Waynesboro Days of Yore vol. 1, 92; Waynesboro News, November 15, 1929; News- Virginian, January 2, 1930).