Granite Building is a historic department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

 building located at Rochester

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

 in Monroe County, New York

Monroe County, New York

Monroe County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 744,344. It is named after James Monroe, fifth President of the United States of America. Its county seat is the city of Rochester....

. It was designed by J. Foster Warner

J. Foster Warner

J. Foster Warner , also known as John Foster Warner, was a Rochester, New York-based architect. He was the son of one of Rochester's most prominent 19th century architects, Andrew Jackson Warner...

 in 1893 and, at 12 stories with 23 acres (9.3 ha) of floor space, was the city's first skeletal steel skyscraper

Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

. Its facade is a mix of Second Renaissance Revival style and Beaux-Arts style classical details. It is characterized by recessed, monumental, four story granite columns supporting recessed arches. It was built by Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Company

Sibley's

Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Company, known informally as Sibley's, was a Rochester, New York-based department store chain with stores located exclusively in the state of New York...

 and served as their flagship store until the "Sibley fire

Sibley fire

The Sibley fire was a 1904 fire in Rochester, New York.The worst conflagration in the city's history at the time, the fire broke out shortly before 5 o'clock on February 26 1904 in the basement of the Rochester Dry Goods company's store at 1516 Main street.The fire caused significant damage to...

" of 1904, when the flagship moved to the Sibley Building.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1984.