Category: Architecture of Atlanta and the Southeast

  • Kiser Law Building (1891-1936) – Atlanta

    Bruce & Morgan. Kiser Law Building (1891-1936). Atlanta.1

    The Background

    The following article, published in The Atlanta Constitution in 1890, includes an illustration and a brief description of the Kiser Law Building, completed in 1891 and designed by Bruce & Morgan.

    Location of Kiser Law Building

    Located at the northwest corner of Hunter and Pryor Streets (later Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive SE and Pryor Street SE) in Atlanta, the five-story office building was owned by M.C. Kiser (1830-18932), a local real estate developer.

    For several years, members of the Atlanta Bar Association had reportedly approached Kiser (pictured here3) with requests for him to build a structure designed exclusively for law offices.4 5

    When Kiser finally agreed to the project, the association formed a building committee that considered two designs for the structure: one by A.Mc.C. Nixon, and the winning plan by Bruce & Morgan.6 7

    Bruce’s Approach

    Although T.H. Morgan increasingly became the primary designer for Bruce & Morgan through the 1890s, A.C. Bruce still handled the majority of the firm’s output in the early part of the decade, and the Kiser Law Building appears to have been his design.

    Bruce was a former cabinet maker and carpenter who lacked formal architectural training, and by 1890, the limits of his skill set were becoming readily apparent.

    Many of Bruce’s designs from the early 1890s appear heavy-handed and anachronistic: you can see he was attempting to adapt to modern tastes, but his design sensibility was still fundamentally stuck in the 1870s — the Kiser Law Building was a prime example.

    Looking at the illustration above, the building resembles a stack of drawers haphazardly piled on top of each other, and oversized windows of varying shapes and sizes junk up both facades.

    That additive approach to design was typical of architects with a background in carpentry, who often designed buildings as if they were giant pieces of furniture, joining disparate elements and tacking on unnecessary embellishments instead of envisioning their compositions as solid masses to be sculpted into form.

    The building’s overall style is equally baffling: Bruce was presumably aiming for the Romanesque, but for all the eclectic adornments, including terra cotta trim,8 9a decorative slate roof with iron crestings, ornamental iron balconies, and marble columns,10 he didn’t quite achieve a cohesive style. The pyramidal peaks and elaborate gables were also becoming rapidly outdated by 1891.

    Kiser Law Building circa 189511

    Design and Construction

    As construction began, it was reported that the Kiser Law Building would be constructed of either Berea sandstone or marble.12 It’s Atlanta, so it appears they opted for the cheaper sandstone for most of the structure and incorporated marble trim around the entrance.13

    Set over a full basement, the building’s five floors included a 16-foot-wide central hall, served by one elevator, four stairwells, and two fire escapes. A light court was also designed to extend from the top to the bottom floor, so that each of the building’s 84 offices would be lighted and ventilated from the outside.14

    The building was illuminated with electric lighting and included “water closets of the latest patterns…located in the rear [heh] of every floor.15

    While it was originally reported that the building would be heated by steam,16 17 Kiser ultimately chose the Bolton Hot Water System, which was marketed as a “purely scientific, healthful way of heating.”18

    I don’t really care enough about such things to learn more; however, the man who supervised the heating system’s installation told the Constitution: “…the larger buildings in the north have been heated by hot water apparatuses for the last ten or twelve years, yet it is practically new for the south…”19

    No surprise, really: Atlanta’s self-conscious developers are always late to the game, simply replicating what was done a decade ago in the better cities of the North.

    The floors of the Kiser Law Building were planned as follows:

    • The ground floor included spaces for four stores — the storefront at the corner of Hunter and Pryor was designated for a bank,20 and another space facing Pryor Street was planned as a restaurant.21 The entrance hallway featured marble wainscoting and tile22 and led to “four broad stairways” and “an elevator of the most approved pattern.”23
    • The second, third, and fourth floors were identical in design, and each contained 28 office suites — 14 on each side of the central hall. The offices were finished in hardwoods and Georgia pine, with fireproof vaults and closets.24 25
    • The fifth floor was intended to house two large halls “suited to the use of secret societies, public meetings and other similar purposes,”26 as well as a kitchen, storerooms, reception room, and a club room or library.27

    Construction on the building began on April 8, 1890,28 with J.H. Matthews,29 “a wide-awake contractor”,30 supervising the project. The initial estimated cost of the building was $90,000, with a projected completion date of April 1, 1891.31 The cost rose to $100,000 by 1891,32 and the building was completed in August 1891.33 34

    Local interest in the project was high, and while construction was still underway in November 1890, Kiser had reportedly received applications from 100 lawyers seeking office space.35

    Firms began announcing their intention to move to the building in early 1891,36 and in June 1891, George W. Adair, who handled leasing for the property, reported: “The Kiser law building is nearly ready for occupancy, which is good news to those who have already selected their rooms, and others that are waiting for its completion.”37

    Their lease agreements should have included the following caveat: the only thing slimier than a lawyer is an Atlanta developer.

    The Terminal Debacle

    In July 1891, Kiser leased nearly the entire law building — including the top four floors, the corner store on the ground floor, and the full basement38 39to a single firm: the Richmond Terminal Company, which had abruptly decided to relocate its headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Atlanta.40

    The company stated its intention to use the Kiser Building as temporary office space until it could build its own facility in the city,41 signing a two-year lease for the then-unheard-of sum (in Atlanta anyway) of $14,500 a year.42 43

    Commonly referred to as the “Terminal”, the company had previously purchased the Central Railroad and Banking Company, Georgia’s oldest railroad,44 based in Savannah. The Terminal’s new Atlanta headquarters consolidated the employees from both Savannah and Washington in a single location.

    However, the Kiser Building was much too small to house the Terminal’s 250 to 300 workers,45 46 and one executive stated, “Unfortunately that building is not large enough to fully accommodate all the offices, but we will try to make do.” Kiser said of the negotiation: “…the trouble was they wanted more room, but finally concluded they could get along by adding the corner room and the basement.”47

    The Terminal’s hasty relocation to Atlanta was more than a little suspicious, and there were allegations that it wasn’t “bona fide”, which the company denied.48 Atlanta’s newspapers, of course, hailed the move, with the always-bloviating Constitution prognosticating:

    “A grand new depot and office building. That is the inevitable result.

    The bringing of these offices to Atlanta is a bigger thing than might appear at first glance. This naturally makes Atlanta the center of the railroad situation of the south, and, as Atlanta is now the insurance center, it becomes beyond question the financial center of the south.”49

    The lawyers who already selected offices in the Kiser Building just had to suck it, I guess. The Odd Fellows probably weren’t too thrilled either: the Constitution reported in July 1891 that “about ten days ago they selected the fifth floor of the Kiser building and immediately rented it as an Odd Fellows’ hall. Then the Terminal people came along and wished the place.”50

    Anyone who knows how shit goes down in Atlanta could guess what happened next: Just six months after the Terminal employees began working in the Kiser building, the Central Railroad was forced into receivership by a local judge.51 52

    Rumors of the Terminal’s financial difficulties and potential bankruptcy had swirled around Atlanta for months, spurred by the resignations of top executives and directors who had reportedly been battling for control of the company.53 54

    There was also the time in January 1892, when the company apparently lacked the funds to pay its employees, delaying their paychecks for more than a week,55 56 57 58 a situation charitably described as “embarrassing.”59

    The final blow was delivered in a lawsuit filed by a stockholder against the company, alleging that, among other things, the Terminal’s owners were conspiring to transfer $500,000,000 in debt onto the Central Railroad, “which it [could] never pay,”60 61 presumably with the intent to bankrupt it. Sounds like business as usual for an American enterprise.

    Under the rules of the receivership, the Central Railroad’s 74 employees62 returned to Savannah,63 64 and while it initially appeared that the remaining Terminal employees would stay in Atlanta, they were ordered back to Washington in June 1892, leaving the Kiser Building nearly vacant.65 66The company hired George W. Adair to sublet the building,67 which was filled with lawyers as originally planned.68

    Kiser Law Building circa 1936

    The Inevitable Demise

    Office structures tend to fall out of fashion quickly, and in 1930, the Journal said of the Kiser Law Building: “…the lawyers, loan brokers, and trade representatives [have] shifted to more modernly equipped buildings…”, noting that, “storms of nearly half a century have raised havoc with the structure and its artistic domes, its oriel windows, and its ornamental trimmings.”69

    By 1936, the Kiser Law Building was reportedly “almost empty except for a store or two on the sidewalk.”70 No one seemed too upset when the structure was demolished in November and December 1936 for — take a wild guess — a parking lot.71 72 73


    The Article

    Major M.C. Kiser’s “Law Building” will be one of the handsomest buildings in the south, and when finished will be one of Atlanta’s greatest attractions.

    The Constitution gives here an excellent cut of the building, made from the drawings of Bruce & Morgan, the architects. The uses to which the building are to be put have been fully explained in these columns.

    The building will be erected at the corner of Pryor and Hunter streets, fronting on Pryor, and will be five stories in height. It will be devoted to offices for lawyers, with clubrooms for a Lawyers’ club. It will be just as complete as possible, an ideal building in every respect.74

    References

    1. Illustration credit: Atlanta in 1890: “The Gate City”. Atlanta: The Atlanta Historical Society, Inc. (1986), p. 62. ↩︎
    2. “M.C. Kiser Dead”. The Atlanta Constitution, December 1, 1893, p. 5. ↩︎
    3. Illustration credit: “The Programme For Today Is Here.” The Atlanta Constitution, August 14, 1890, p. 5. ↩︎
    4. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 26, 1890, p. 19. ↩︎
    5. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    6. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 26, 1890, p. 19. ↩︎
    7. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    8. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 26, 1890, p. 19. ↩︎
    9. “History In Clay.” The Atlanta Constitution, May 15, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
    10. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    11. Photo credit: Art Work of Atlanta: published in twelve parts ↩︎
    12. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    13. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 26, 1890, p. 19. ↩︎
    14. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    15. ibid. ↩︎
    16. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 26, 1890, p. 19. ↩︎
    17. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    18. “Kiser Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, September 6, 1891, p. 3. ↩︎
    19. ibid. ↩︎
    20. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    21. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Journal, November 29, 1890, p. 5. ↩︎
    22. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 26, 1890, p. 19. ↩︎
    23. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    24. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 26, 1890, p. 19. ↩︎
    25. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    26. ibid. ↩︎
    27. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 26, 1890, p. 19. ↩︎
    28. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    29. “Atlanta Building Up.” The Atlanta Constitution, October 3, 1890, p. 3. ↩︎
    30. “A Hoisting Elevator.” The Atlanta Journal, November 11, 1890, p. 1. ↩︎
    31. “Kiser’s Law Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 8, 1890, p. 7. ↩︎
    32. “Etched and Sketched.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 30, 1891, p. 4. ↩︎
    33. “Railroad Notes.” The Atlanta Constitution, August 16, 1891, p. 19. ↩︎
    34. “They Are Here.” The Atlanta Constitution, August 24, 1891, p. 4. ↩︎
    35. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Journal, November 29, 1890, p. 5. ↩︎
    36. “Land Titles.” The Atlanta Journal, April 30, 1891, p. 7. ↩︎
    37. “FOR RENT — Houses, Cottages, Etc.” The Atlanta Constitution, June 28, 1891, p. 10. ↩︎
    38. “The Kiser Building”. The Atlanta Constitution, July 23, 1891, p. 4. ↩︎
    39. “Terminal Offices In The Kiser Block.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 24, 1891, p. 2. ↩︎
    40. “The General Offices”. The Atlanta Constitution, July 22, 1891, p. 7. ↩︎
    41. ibid. ↩︎
    42. “Terminal Offices In The Kiser Block.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 24, 1891, p. 2. ↩︎
    43. “Then And Now.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 28, 1891, p. 5. ↩︎
    44. “The Central’s Fate.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 5, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    45. “To Move Their Offices.” The Atlanta Journal, June 17, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
    46. “Fleming Out.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 25, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
    47. “Terminal Offices In The Kiser Block.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 24, 1891, p. 2. ↩︎
    48. ibid. ↩︎
    49. ibid. ↩︎
    50. “Might Have Interrupted Their Plans.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 26, 1891, p. 15. ↩︎
    51. “A Receiver!” The Atlanta Journal, March 4, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    52. “The Central’s Fate.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 5, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    53. “Changes In The Terminal.” The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia), January 5, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    54. “The Complete Story”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 6, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    55. “Railroad News.” The Atlanta Constitution, January 1, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
    56. “Pay Day Postponed.” The Atlanta Journal, January 1, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
    57. “They Have Resigned”. The Atlanta Journal, January 5, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
    58. “Salaries Paid.” The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia), January 7, 1892, p. 2. ↩︎
    59. “Atlanta’s Rumors.” The Morning News (Savannah, Georgia), January 7, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    60. “A Receiver!” The Atlanta Journal, March 4, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    61. “The Central’s Fate.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 5, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    62. “Fleming Out.” The Atlanta Constitution, June 25, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
    63. “Paints A Rosy Picture.” The Atlanta Journal, March 29, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    64. “The Central’s Officials”. The Atlanta Journal, March 30, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    65. “To Move Their Offices”. The Atlanta Journal, June 17, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
    66. “Are Anxious To Leave.” The Atlanta Journal, June 18, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
    67. “Mr. W.G. Oakman”. The Atlanta Journal, June 22, 1892, p. 1. ↩︎
    68. “Kiser Building, Familiar Landmark Here For Almost 50 Years, Will Be Demolished”. The Atlanta Journal, November 15, 1936, p. 8-D. ↩︎
    69. Moody, George O. “‘Home’ In Kiser Building Lost By Pigeons”. The Atlanta Journal, July 6, 1930, p. 2. ↩︎
    70. “Old Landmark Of City Will Be Demolished”. The Atlanta Constitution, November 15, 1936, p. 6C. ↩︎
    71. ibid. ↩︎
    72. “Kiser Building, Familiar Landmark Here For Almost 50 Years, Will Be Demolished”. The Atlanta Journal, November 15, 1936, p. 8-D. ↩︎
    73. “Adair Announces Important Leases”. The Atlanta Journal, December 6, 1936, p. 6-D. ↩︎
    74. The Atlanta Constitution, March 30, 1890, p. 8. ↩︎

  • Skybridge to Gas Light Tower, Peachtree Center, Atlanta

    John Portman and Associates. Skybridge to Gas Light Tower. Peachtree Center, Atlanta.

    “We are trying to be as good as suburbia, by bringing nature back into the city. We are creating an urban environment where people walk. People don’t walk in suburbia. There are four rush hours there: morning, going to lunch, returning from lunch and going home. We have the only really pedestrian environment in the whole metro area.”

    John C. Portman, Jr., 19881

    References

    1. Walker, Tom. “Skybridges High, Dry, Debatable”. The Atlanta Journal, September 6, 1988, p. 1B. ↩︎
  • Second Presbyterian Church (1910) – Greenville, South Carolina

    Charles Edward Choate. Second Presbyterian Church (1910). Greenville, South Carolina.1 2 3
    South elevation of Second Presbyterian Church
    Looking at Second Presbyterian Church from the southeast

    References

    1. “$90,000 To Be Spent In Church Building”. The Atlanta Journal, May 17, 1910, p. 6. ↩︎
    2. “Churches.” The Greenville Daily News (Greenville, South Carolina), June 12, 1910, p. 6. ↩︎
    3. “Initiatory Services”. The Greenville Daily News (Greenville, South Carolina), June 16, 1910, p. 8. ↩︎
  • “An Atlanta Novel Edited by Archibald Gunter” (1899)

    The Background

    The following article was published in The Atlanta Constitution in 1899 and was written by Wallace Putnam Reed (1849-1903), a writer and historian who regularly contributed to the Constitution and other newspapers in the Southeastern United States.

    In this article, Reed (pictured here1) recounts the events that led to the 1889 publication of How I Escaped, a semi-autobiographical novel written by W.H. Parkins, one of Atlanta’s earliest architects.

    Five years after Parkins’ death, Reed was much more honest about the architect’s writing ability than in his gushing review of the novel ten years earlier. Funny how that works.

    Also of note is that Reed claims to have edited the original version of Parkins’ manuscript, which is now housed at the Atlanta History Center, and that Parkins sent the manuscript to H.I. Kimball, the owner and developer of Atlanta’s Kimball House Hotel.

    The Kimball connection was omitted in Reed’s 1889 review of the novel, possibly because Kimball left Atlanta in 1886 amid some controversy,2 which would still have been fresh in local readers’ minds.

    By the time he died of stomach cancer in 1895, however, Kimball had become a distant memory in the city — the Journal noted at his death that “little was known of him since he went north a few years ago.”3

    As Reed recounts here, Kimball forwarded Parkins’ manuscript to Archibald Clavering Gunter, who turned Parkins’ biographical narrative into a substantially altered work of historical fiction, leading Parkins to eventually conclude that he “had done himself an injustice.”

    Reed, who was also a close friend of G.L. Norrman, here describes Parkins as “a straightforward man, eminently sincere and truthful,” lamenting that his “truthful narrative of adventure was lost to the reading world.” Conversely, his characterization of Gunter is quite damning: “He cared nothing for history.”


    Article Excerpt:

    About ten years ago the late William H. Parkins was among the leading architects of this city. He was a man of talent, and had some natural literary gifts which would have attracted attention if they had been cultivated.

    One day Mr. Parkins paid me a visit, and placed in my hands a bulky manuscript.

    “I have written a book,” he said, “and I want you to revise it. You see I wrote it with a pencil, at odd moments, and I know that it is not in proper shape for the printer. The arrangement of the chapters and the paragraphs requires attention, and perhaps some portions of the book should be condensed.”

    I glanced over the work, and found that it was a graphic narrative of the author’s adventures during the war, when his devotion to the union cause led him to face many dangers. Leaving his home in South Carolina, he walked through the forests and mountains of western North Carolina and east Tennessee, and after passing through many perils he finally succeeded in reaching the federal lines.

    It was an exciting chronicle, realistic and true, and the rattle and clash of sabers and the roar of the big guns made it a veritable prose epic of war.

    I gladly agreed to transcribe the manuscript, making such changes as I thought necessary. The task occupied many long nights, and when it was finished, the result was a pile of copy which would have made a volume of about 350 pages.

    The question of publication then came up. It was difficult for an unknown writer to find a good publisher, and Mr. Parkins knew it.

    After some unsatisfactory correspondence, the author sent his manuscript to his friend, Mr. H.I. Kimball, who was then in New York.

    Mr. Kimball was not a very busy man, and literary matters were not in his line. But a happy thought struck him. He heard people everywhere talking about Gunter and his novels, and he saw on every news stand big stacks of yellow-covered volumes bearing the titles “Mr. Barnes of New York” and “Mr. Potter of Texas.”

    Inquiry brought out the fact that Gunter was his own publisher–a pushing, active man who knew how to get before the public and sell his books.

    So the package from Mr. Parkins was turned over to the story writer and publisher for examination.

    One evening Mr. Gunter found it hard to employ an idle hour. He had absolutely nothing to do, and, picking up the Parkins manuscript, he decided to glance over a few pages.

    At the end of fifteen minutes he settled down in a quiet place and began to read critically and closely. An hour rolled by and he was still reading.

    He was summoned to supper, but he did not move. A second summons came.

    “I am not going to supper,” said Mr. Gunter, “this is the most fascinating thing I have seen in a long time, and I can’t lay it down until I have finished it.”

    The reader was then left undisturbed, and at a late hour that night he carefully replaced the manuscript in its pasteboard box, and then sat down to write a letter to Mr. Parkins.

    With a keen eye to business, the New Yorker offered to publish the book, provided the author would allow him to introduce a few sensations, and make it a novel instead of a matter-of-fact record. He also stipulated that the title page should read as follows: “How I Escaped; by William H. Parkins. Edited by Archibald Clavering Gunter.”

    If these conditions were accepted, the publisher agreed to bring out the book in yellow covers and push its sale, paying the author a liberal royalty.

    The Atlantian gave his consent to this arrangement, and in the course of a few weeks a new novel was on sale everywhere.

    It had a big circulation in this country, Canada and England. Doubtless at least 100,000 copies were sold.

    This was a brilliant success for an Atlanta novel, but Mr. Parkins was not entirely satisfied.

    He was a straightforward man, eminently sincere and truthful, and after he had naturally considered the matter, he came to the conclusion that he had done himself an injustice in allowing a really valuable contribution to our war history to be spiced with thrilling fiction and published as a story.

    He was seriously contemplating the publication of his manuscript in its original form when his last illness caused the idea to be abandoned.

    It is a pity that this truthful narrative of adventure was lost to the reading world. As a picture of every day life in the confederacy and between the lines, it has never been equaled, and it would have been regarded as a work of permanent historical value.

    Of course Mr. Gunter did his best from his point of view. He cared nothing for history. With him a sensational novel–one that would make the reader’s hair stand on end–beat history out of sight.

    Then, his idea was to secure large and rapid sales for the book, and if facts stood in the way, he was ready to smash them at once and substitute his lurid fictions.

    It must be admitted that he did his work well in the changes which he made in “How I Escaped.” Some of his scenes and incidents would have done credit to Dumas himself.

    Mr. Gunter has been conspicuously successful as a popular writer, and he has made a fortune from his books. Yet it is a singular fact that he had no literary training and he was a middle-aged man when he came to the front with his first novel.4

    References

    1. Photo credit: The Atlanta Exposition and South Illustrated ↩︎
    2. Reagan, Alice E. H.I. Kimball, Entrepreneur. Atlanta: Cherokee Publishing Company (1983). ↩︎
    3. “Death Of H.I. Kimball”. The Atlanta Journal, April 29, 1885, p. 5. ↩︎
    4. Reed, Wallace Putnam. “An Atlanta Novel Edited by Gunter”. The Atlanta Constitution, March 23, 1899, p. 4. ↩︎
  • “How I Escaped” (1889)

    W.H. Parkins. Main Building at Atlanta Baptist Seminary, later Samuel T. Graves Hall at Morehouse College (1890). Atlanta.1 2 3

    The Background

    The following article was published in The Atlanta Constitution in 1889 and reviews a semi-autobiographical novel written by William Henry Parkins (1836-1894),4 5 professionally known as W.H. Parkins.

    Parkins (pictured here) was arguably Atlanta’s first architect, establishing a firm in the city by 1868.6 7

    Before moving to Atlanta, Parkins worked as a carpenter in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1860,8 and was previously employed as a railroad engineer.

    There’s no evidence that Parkins received any formal training before offering his services as an architect, although that was typical for Southern designers at the time.

    What was less typical is that Parkins was born in New York and was a Union sympathizer during the Civil War. When fighting began in South Carolina, he fled through North Carolina and Virginia to reach Federal lines, but was captured by Confederate forces and conscripted into the Confederate army.9

    Following imprisonment in Richmond, Virginia, Parkins escaped again and fled with a group of men across North Carolina and Tennessee, aided by a covert network of Union supporters in the Appalachians, which was later said to be “thick with Unionists”.10

    Parkins ultimately entered the Union-friendly state of Kentucky and later reached New York, returning to the Deep South after the War.11

    Griffith Thomas with W.H. Parkins. Kimball House Hotel (1870-1883). Atlanta.12 13 14

    Parkins’ loyalty to the Union seems to have had little to no impact on his business as a Reconstruction-era architect in Atlanta, but one reason the city rebounded so swiftly after the War was that Atlantans have always valued money and status over personal conviction. Whereas carpetbaggers were widely reviled by most Southerners, in Atlanta, they were openly embraced.

    It also didn’t hurt that there were only two or three practicing architects in Atlanta through the 1870s, and a lack of competition allowed Parkins to secure several choice commissions, including the Peachtree Street residence that later became the Governor’s Mansion (1869-1922),15 and construction supervision of the original Kimball House Hotel (1870-1883),16 designed by Griffith Thomas of New York.17

    Based on illustrations and images, Parkins was the more talented of Atlanta’s designers at the time, but that’s not saying much. At best, his early designs appear to have been competent vernacular executions of the Gothic, Italianate, and Second Empire styles, comparable to those found in any Southern city.

    W.H. Parkins. John H. James House, later Governor’s Mansion (1869-1922). Atlanta.18 19 20 21 22 23

    Parkins began contending with health issues in the early 1880s, but he also struggled to adapt to changing architectural tastes. For the second half of his career, his attempts at the more sophisticated styles of the late 19th century were embarrassing and regrettable.

    In 1879, Parkins formed a brief partnership with A.C. Bruce,24 25 a Confederate veteran who had already established a successful solo practice in eastern Tennessee. Based on the firm’s surviving works, it appears Bruce handled the bulk of the design duties.

    The firm disbanded in 1882, when Parkins’s ill health forced him to retire to southwest Georgia, where he operated a former plantation located outside the town of Morgan.26 Parkins had owned the farm since at least 187927 28 and was later described as a “well-to-do planter.”29

    W.H. Parkins. Frank Pulaski Residence (1881). Cuthbert, Georgia.30 31 32 33 34

    His initial retirement only lasted a few years, and in 1885, Parkins rented out his farm35 and returned to Atlanta to practice with L.B. Wheeler,36 37 38 another architect from New York, forming a two-year partnership.

    Parkins’s association with Wheeler resulted in his design for the Randolph County Courthouse (1886)39 in the southwest Georgia town of Cuthbert, and culminated with his work on the Oglethorpe County Courthouse (1887) in Lexington, Georgia.40

    Parkins left the firm to establish the Atlanta Construction Company,41 42 which collapsed six months later,43 although he maintained a solo practice in Atlanta until 1890, living part-time in the city to conduct business, while spending the remainder of his time at his farm.

    W.H. Parkins. Terrell County Courthouse (1893). Dawson, Georgia.44 45

    As construction finished on his last known work in Atlanta, the Atlanta Baptist Seminary (1890, pictured at top), Parkins permanently relocated to southwest Georgia,46 47 where he designed the final projects of his career, including the Dooly County Courthouse (1891) in Vienna and the Terrell County Courthouse (1891) in Dawson, both of which are atrocious, fumbling attempts at the Romanesque Revival.

    Even before Parkins died in 1894, he had become a relic of another era in Atlanta — many of his buildings in the city had already been destroyed, and since he hadn’t been a permanent resident for several years, his death received brief coverage in the local newspapers.

    Today, only two of Parkins’ works in Atlanta are intact: the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (1873) and Graves Hall (1890) at Morehouse College. Gaines Hall (1869) at Morris Brown College, a building supervised by Parkins from a Cincinnati firm’s design,48 was gutted by fires in 2015, 2023, and 202449 50 51 and is now a collapsed shell.

    W.H. Parkins. Dooly County Courthouse (1891). Vienna, Georgia.52 53

    In the 1880s, Parkins wrote a manuscript detailing his experiences during the Civil War, which he titled Hiding Out or the Adventures of a Confederate Conscript: A Thrilling Narrative of the War Between the States.54

    Unfortunately, Parkins was as skilled at writing as he was at architecture, and he convinced Wallace Putnam Reed of Atlanta to edit the manuscript for him.

    Reed later charitably recalled that Parkins “had some literary gifts which would have attracted attention if they had been cultivated,” and reported that Parkins sent the edited manuscript to H.I. Kimball, the New York-based owner and developer of Atlanta’s Kimball House Hotel, with whom he was briefly associated in the firm of Kimball, Wheeler & Parkins.

    Kimball then forwarded the manuscript to Archibald Gunter, a popular author and playwright of the late 19th century. Although virtually unknown today, Gunter had recently published two massive best-selling fiction books, Mr. Barnes of New York and Mr. Potter of Texas, and was eager for quick follow-up success.

    Gunter asked Parkins’s permission to publish his biographical story as a novel, with the provision that Gunter could serve as an “editor”, adding “a few dramatic and fictive flourishes and some bright dialogue,” according to the article included here.

    The resulting novel, How I Escaped, was published in the United States and England in 1889. As editor, Gunter substantially altered Parkins’s biographical narrative with the addition of multiple characters and plots, leading Parkins to eventually regret his decision.

    The exact sales numbers for the book are difficult to determine, but it doesn’t appear to have been the success Gunter hoped for, especially compared to his previous releases. In 1899, Reed claimed the novel sold “at least 100,000 copies” — a respectable figure, but hardly remarkable.

    W.H. Parkins of Parkins & Bruce. James Fricker Residence (1879). Americus, Georgia.55

    Critical reviews of How I Escaped were also decidedly mixed. The World in New York wrote a glowing review of the novel and singled out the story’s “remarkable race-freak, the red-headed negro” — an invention of Gunter’s — as “a beacon of fun and frolic”.56

    The People of London dismissed the novel’s trite plotting and was especially critical of the black servant character, named Caucus, using an offensive term to summarize his portrayal:

    “Mr. Parkins is not to blame . . . for treading again the well-trodden ground, but he might have hit upon a more novel device than the troubles of a couple of lovers whose families are arrayed on opposite sides. The n****r element, too smacks of the stale; ever since Uncle Tom appeared the public in both hemispheres have been surfeited with the “colored gemman.” . . . We do hope and trust that we shall never again come across a novel in which a faithful and upright, but terribly tiresome, negro everlastingly exclaims “Golly!”57

    The Glasgow Herald was equally scathing: “The author’s mechanical method is ill-concealed… the pieces are joined badly, producing the effect of one of those children’s picture puzzles which, when put together, present a surface intersected by ragged lines.”58

    Of course, Atlanta’s newspapers in the 19th century were absolutely incapable of objectivity, existing primarily to extol the city’s self-proclaimed preeminence in the New South. It’s no surprise, then, that the following review of How I Escaped is absolutely gushing, written by Wallace Putnam Reed under the pen name of “The Old Colonel”.59


    “How I Escaped.”

    Mr. Parkins, Of Atlanta, Writes A War Novel.

    A Story of a Book’s Evolution, Showing How the Author Turned a Stirring Historical Narrative Into a Thrilling Romance of Southern Life in the Sixties, and Rivalled “Mr. Barnes, of New York.”

    An architect and an author!

    The two lines of business are dissimilar and yet it is possible to combine them.

    Mr. W.H. Parkins, the well known and popular Atlanta architect, has tried the experiment, and he has no reason to feel dissatisfied.

    Some time ago it occurred to Mr. Parkins that a narrative of his adventures during the war in South Carolina, giving an account of his unpleasant experiences as a union man in a secession community, his sufferings and trials and final escape, would be of some interest to the public.

    After thinking the matter over, Mr. Parkins decided to write a book. When his manuscript was ready a judicious friend placed it in the hands of Mr. Archibald Clavering Gunter, the famous author of “Mr. Barnes, of New York,” and “Mr. Potter, of Texas.” Then our Atlanta writer patiently awaited the result. Ninety-eight times out of a hundred publishers return manuscripts. But it was not so in this case.

    Mr. Gunter is a man of business, as well as a literary man. He is president of the Home Publishing company of New York, and is always on the lookout for something bright and fresh in the book line. He picked up the manuscript sent by Mr. Parkins, and turned over its pages carelessly one evening while waiting for supper.

    “Supper is ready,” said Mrs. Gunter.

    “All right,” was the reply; “will be there in a moment.”

    Mrs. Gunter went to supper, and her husband remained behind reading the manuscript.

    “Supper is ready,” said a servant, five minutes later.

    “In a few minutes,” answered the reader.

    “Mrs. Gunter sent me to see if you are coming to supper,” said the servant, a little later.

    “Tell her,” replied Mr. Gunter, “that I can’t come. I am so much interested in this Atlanta man’s adventures that I must read on to the end.”

    So Mr. Gunter sat up supperless and read some four hundred pages of legal cap paper before he went to bed. The next day he wrote to Mr. Parkins and suggested that the work would sell better in the shape of a novel.

    Mr. Parkins answered that he had confidence in Mr. Gunter’s judgment, and would be guided by him. Mr. Gunter then made some suggestions to Mr. Parkins, and Mr. Parkins made some suggestions to Mr. Gunter. A few dramatic and fictive flourishes and some bright dialogue were added by Mr. Gunter, and the result is now before the public in the novel published last week under the title of “How I Escaped,” by W.H. Parkins, edited by Archibald Clavering Gunter.

    In advance of publication, Mr. Gunter sent out circulars containing the following synopsis of the novel: “Book 1.–How I Stayed for Her. Book 2. –How I Fled from Her. Book 3.–How I Won Her. Book 4–How I Came Back and Fought for Her.” The heads of each chapter were also advertised as follows:

    “Got Your Carpet Bag Packed? Amos Pierson, Love or Duty, The Empty Sleeve, A Confederate Detective, The Provost Marshal, The Blockade Runner, The Shovel or the Rifle, The Night Attack, She Came, The Redheaded Negro, The Honeymoon in the Blue Ridge, When Girl Meets Girl, Into the Dark Country, Through the Gaps, Through the Lines, The Letter of Life, The Fight for the Bridge, Where Was She? The Little Hostage.”

    Arrangements were made to copyright the book in England, and have it appear there on the day of its publication here. The orders began to pour in, and before a single copy had been issued from the press 20,000 orders had been received.

    This means a handsome profit for both author and publisher, and is a flattering success in an age when some of the best novels do not sell to the extent of more than 5,000 copies.

    “How I Escaped” is a war novel, and it is one of the best, and perhaps the best, of its kind. Of course it is fiction, but it has the advantage of being founded on facts–facts in Mr. Parkins’s own experience, or the experience of others.

    It would not be doing the story justice to synopsize it fully, but here is a faint outline. Just as South Carolina seceded, Lawrence Bryant, a young northerner residing in Columbia, became engaged to Laura Peyton, in spite of his rivals, Harry Walton, a gallant South Carolinian, and Amos Pierson, a crafty, scheming old speculator from Savannah.

    The war came on, and Bryant’s sweetheart and family and his best friends tried to win him over to the cause of the confederacy, but his loyalty to the union never wavered. His acquaintances grew cold, and at last he was ordered to report for duty as a soldier. Bryant’s efforts to leave the country, dogged all the time by Bassett, the confederate detective make several thrilling chapters. At last he concealed himself in the hold of a blockade runner at Wilmington, but was discovered and taken prisoner by the confederates. For a long time he suffered every possible hardship, but by the aid of Laura Peyton effected his escape, and the two met in the Blue Ridge, where they were married.

    The honeymoon was rudely interrupted by the appearance of Laura’s sister and Bassett, both of whom desired Bryant’s arrest. The hunted man gave the detective an ounce of cold lead, and made a break for the mountains. His adventures during his wanderings among the bushwhackers in western North Carolina and East Tennessee are told in a graphic and spirited manner that keeps the reader’s interest on the stretch from page to page. He reached Knoxville, went to New York, and thence to Nassau, where he tried to communicate with his wife without success. Then he returned to New York, and started for Atlanta after Sherman had captured the city. He went with the army to the sea, and on to Columbia, where he arrived just in time to save his wife and child from the dangers of that ill-fated capital.

    Bryant’s persecution, it seems, was all due to the animosity of his rival, Amos Pierson, who had influence with the confederate government. This man Pierson comes to grief after the burning of Columbia, and gets soundly pummeled by Bryant. Harry Walton, the other suitor for Laura Peyton’s hand, was a chivalric southerner. In the chapter on “The Fight for the Bridge,” occurs the following description of Walton’s death, after holding the bridge for hours with a single regiment against a division of federals:

    The captain of artillery, aided by a couple of pioneers, had rapidly dug a hole in the center pier of the bridge. Into this four men running down, placed four kegs of gunpowder. Walton turned from his men, and he and the artillery officer both stayed and to this mine deliberately attached a fuse. Then they coolly waited until the rear guard had crossed the bridge, and reached the little breastwork on the other side of the river. Before this was done there was another heavy volley, and several of the men sank dying as they crossed the stream, while Walton himself gave a start that indicated he had received another wound, and the captain of the battery fell down upon the bridge. Coolly striking no less than three matches to get a light, under this fusillade that became more deadly every moment, Walton deliberately lit the fort fire that led to the mine; then shouldering the wounded artillery officer, staggered across and took position behind the breastwork to check the federal advance for the last time. Both the batteries of artillery limbered up and started off after the confederate infantry. A division had been saved–a regiment almost annihilated.

    But all this meant little to Caucus and myself now–we looked only at the smoking fuse that would explode the bridge under which we were concealed. The black’s face had become ashen. His chattering teeth said: “Golly, when dis blows up we blow up, too!” The crossfire from the federals and confederates made it certain death to venture on the bridge. Caucus, before I know what he was doing, plunged into the stream, and, in twenty or thirty vigorous strokes, reached the center pier. Up this he climbed, for it was not more than five feet high, and sheltered by the heavy log cribbing from the confederate musketry, deliberately pulled out the lighted fuse from the mine. For a moment the South Carolinians did not notice it, but a second after a cry from Walton came across the river. Cursing the black, he called to his men to follow him, and, firing his revolver at Caucus, ran across the bridge.

    The confederates rose up, but the fire from the approaching federals was too heavy. A few of them fell wounded; the rest dropped again behind the breastwork.

    A dozen strides brought Walton to the center of the bridge. He pulled out another fuse, and attached it to the powder, this time cutting it off very short.

    His revolver firing had driven Caucus into the river, where he swam back to me.

    As the colonel was about to light the fuse, he paused, staggered, clapped his hand to his side, reeled and sank upon the bridge, the lighted port fire from his hand falling sizzling into the river. The federal advance was already at our end of the bridge.

    With a yell of rage for their fallen commander, the South Carolinians rushed from their breastwork, charged across the bridge, and at the center the blue and gray met. Clubbed muskets, bayonets and even fists were used in the struggle.

    Swept back by overwhelming numbers across the bridge, the confederates bore with them the dead body of their officer–another hero fallen for that lost cause whose banner had already begun to droop, and whose stars began to fade.

    As I gazed at this, a wave of blue surged round me. I had not come to the federal lines–the federal lines had come to me.

    But there are other fighting episodes equally as stirring as this incident. Fortunately, however, war is not the main staple of the book. There is a charming love story running all through it, and this tones the gunpowdering element down delightfully.

    To give fuller details would be to interfere with the reader’s enjoyment of the novel, It should be said just here that “How I Escaped” has no tinge of sectional bitterness or prejudice. It is simply a vivid, rushing torrent of incident and dialogue, punctuated with the rattle of musketry and the booming of cannon. The author has given his story the true local coloring, and made it in the main a faithful picture of certain phases of life in the south during a period that tried men’s souls, and developed all that was best and worst in human nature. Some minor flaws–some little blemishes–appear on the surface, but very few American novelists have produced a first book so full of interest and excitement.

    Some idea will be given of the impression produced by the book when it is stated that a stranger in New York wrote to the author, offering him a large sum, cash down, for his interest in the profits. The offer was promptly refused, as it is confidently believed that the sale will reach at least 100,000 copies.

    It is more than likely that the reading public will hear from Mr. Parkins again. He has not exhausted his material–he has merely thrown out a few nuggets as a sample of the wealth waiting to be developed and shaped when there is a demand for it. The success of “How I Escaped” will doubtless induce Mr. Parkins to carry out his original plan, and give the world a history of the inside of the confederacy, from the standpoint of a non-combatant who was a close observer of the social, political, military and industrial aspects of the situation.

    It is hoped that Mr. Parkins will carry out his purpose, He has done so well in his first flight through the airy realm of fiction that there will be a general desire to see him make another excursion–this time in the field of history, where he can utilize the facts–the reminiscences of which his novel has given us a foretaste.

    THE OLD COLONEL.60

    References

    1. “Another Educational Institution.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 13, 1889, p. 5. ↩︎
    2. “Home Building.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 20, 1889, p. 8. ↩︎
    3. “Atlanta Baptist Seminary.” The Atlanta Journal, May 23, 1890, p. 11. ↩︎
    4. Tombstone inscription. ↩︎
    5. “W.H. Parkins Dead.” The Atlanta Journal, January 30, 1894, p. 1. ↩︎
    6. “Associations.” The Atlanta Constitution, December 1, 1868, p. 3. ↩︎
    7. Barnwell’s Atlanta City Directory and Strangers’ Guide. Atlanta: Intelligencer Book and Job Office (1867). ↩︎
    8. 1860 U.S. Census, Richland County, South Carolina, pop. sch., p. 80, Parkins, William H. ↩︎
    9. King, Spencer Bidwell, Jr.A Yankee Who Served the South”. The Atlanta Historical Bulletin, Volume 14, no. 2 (June 1969). pp. 7-30. ↩︎
    10. ibid, p. 24. ↩︎
    11. ibid. ↩︎
    12. “City Intelligence.” The Atlanta Constitution, October 26, 1870, p. 3. ↩︎
    13. “The Kimball”. The Atlanta Constitution, August 13, 1883, p. 1. ↩︎
    14. Lyons, Elizabeth A. Atlanta Architecture: The Victorian Heritage, 1837-1918. The Atlanta Historical Society (1976), p. 25. ↩︎
    15. “W.H. Parkins, Architect.” The Atlanta Constitution, September 5, 1878, p 2. ↩︎
    16. “The History Of The Kimball.” The Atlanta Constitution, August 13, 1883, p. 2. ↩︎
    17. “The H.I. Kimball House, Atlanta, Georgia.” The Greenville Enterprise (Greenville, South Carolina), October 5, 1870, p. 1. ↩︎
    18. “Open To The Public.” The Atlanta Constitution, December 23, 1869, p. 3. ↩︎
    19. “Governor’s Mansion.” The Atlanta Constitution, November 26, 1892, p. 7. ↩︎
    20. Grant, Ed L. ‘When Atlanta Had a “Hell’s Half-Acre”‘. The Atlanta Journal Magazine, January 20, 1924, p. 3. ↩︎
    21. “Walls of Home Of Governors Begin to Fall”. The Atlanta Constitution, June 3, 1922, p. 8. ↩︎
    22. “With The Realtors”. The Atlanta Journal, June 19, 1922, p. 19. ↩︎
    23. Photo credit: Lyons, Elizabeth A. Atlanta Architecture: The Victorian Heritage, 1837-1918. The Atlanta Historical Society (1976), p. 30. ↩︎
    24. “Our Architects.” The Atlanta Constitution, January 9, 1879, p. 1. ↩︎
    25. “To The Public.” (advertisement) The Atlanta Constitution, February 5, 1882, p. 2. ↩︎
    26. “An Atlanta Man’s Country Home.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 6, 1889, p. 3. ↩︎
    27. “Personal.” The Albany News (Albany, Georgia), July 3, 1879, p. 3. ↩︎
    28. “Personal Mention.” The Atlanta Constitution, September 6, 1879, p. 1. ↩︎
    29. “Georgia and Florida.” The Savannah Morning News, March 8, 1889, p. 6. ↩︎
    30. National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form: Cuthbert Historic District ↩︎
    31. The Cuthbert Appeal (Cuthbert, Georgia), June 25, 1880, p. 3. ↩︎
    32. The Cuthbert Appeal (Cuthbert, Georgia), July 16, 1880, p. 3. ↩︎
    33. The Cuthbert Appeal (Cuthbert, Georgia), August 6, 1880, p. 3. ↩︎
    34. The Cuthbert Appeal (Cuthbert, Georgia), January 7, 1881, p. 3. ↩︎
    35. “Georgia and Florida.” The Morning News (Savannah, Georgia), March 8, 1889, p. 6. ↩︎
    36. “H.I. Kimball, L.B. Wheeler & Co., Architects” (advertisement). The Atlanta Constitution, March 18, 1885, p. 5. ↩︎
    37. “Personal.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 18, 1885, p. 8. ↩︎
    38. “Notice of Dissolution.” (advertisement) The Atlanta Constitution, April 1, 1887, p. 5. ↩︎
    39. “It Is Finished.” Cuthbert Enterprise and Appeal (Cuthbert, Georgia), May 6, 1886, p. 3. ↩︎
    40. “The Courthouse Accepted.” The Atlanta Constitution, February 10, 1887, p. 2. ↩︎
    41. “Notice of Dissolution.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 1, 1887, p. 5. ↩︎
    42. “Atlanta Construction Company.” The Atlanta Constitution, April 1, 1887, p. 7. ↩︎
    43. “Georgia and Florida.” The Morning News (Savannah, Georgia), October 13, 1887, p. 6. ↩︎
    44. “Notice To Contractors.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 21, 1891, p. 3. ↩︎
    45. “General News”. The Athens Daily Banner (Athens, Georgia), May 18, 1893, p. 4. ↩︎
    46. “Strange Suggestions”. The Atlanta Constitution, January 5, 1890, p. 14. ↩︎
    47. “Agricultural.” The Atlanta Journal, May 26, 1890, p. 3. ↩︎
    48. “City Improvements.” The Atlanta Constitution, July 15, 1869, p. 3. ↩︎
    49. A year after fire, questions plague future of Gaines Hall – SaportaReport ↩︎
    50. Fire consumes historic Gaines Hall at Atlanta University Center ↩︎
    51. Historic building near Atlanta University Center goes up in flames ↩︎
    52. “Notice to Contractors.” The Atlanta Constitution, March 23, 1890, p. 13. ↩︎
    53. “Mr. W.H. Parkins”. Americus Times-Recorder (Americus, Georgia), August 8, 1891, p. 5. ↩︎
    54. Collection: William H. Parkins manuscript | Kenan Research Center Finding Aids ↩︎
    55. “In Americus.” The Weekly Sumter Republican (Americus, Georgia), July 4, 1879, p. 1. ↩︎
    56. “Mr. Gunter’s New Book.” The World (New York), January 23, 1889, p. 3. ↩︎
    57. “Our Library Table.” The People (London), February 10, 1889, p. 2. ↩︎
    58. “Novels and Stories.” The Glasgow Herald, March 5, 1889, p. 9. ↩︎
    59. “The Old Colonel.” The Atlanta Constitution, May 28, 1889, p. 4. ↩︎
    60. “How I Escaped.” The Atlanta Constitution, January 13, 1899, p. 10. ↩︎

  • Frank Adair Residence (1913) – Atlanta

    Neel Reid of Hentz, Reid & Adler. Frank Adair Residence (1913) – Druid Hills, Atlanta.1 2 3 4 5 6 7

    References

    1. “The Real Estate Field”. The Atlanta Constitution, May 9, 1912, pp. 23-24. ↩︎
    2. “The Real Estate Field.” The Atlanta Constitution, June 13, 1911, p. 18. ↩︎
    3. “The Real Estate Field”. The Atlanta Constitution, June 22, 1912, p. 14. ↩︎
    4. “The Real Estate Field”. The Atlanta Constitution, July 9, 1912, p. 21. ↩︎
    5. “Personals”. The Atlanta Georgian and News, January 3, 1913, p. 9. ↩︎
    6. “Personal”. The Atlanta Georgian and News, March 11, 1913, p. 8. ↩︎
    7. Grady, James H. Architecture of Neel Reid in Georgia. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press (1973). ↩︎
  • The Bank of Georgia (1961) – Atlanta

    Hedrick & Stanley. The Bank of Georgia (1961).1 2 3

    This 31-story International-style tower was arguably the first “modern” skyscraper in Atlanta, although it’s now pushing 70 years old and looks every day of it.

    The tower opened in 1961 as the home of The Bank of Georgia and was purported to be the “tallest structure south of Baltimore,”4 surpassed a few years later by Atlanta’s First National Bank,5 6 built one block away.

    It’s telling that the Bank of Georgia had to hire an out-of-town firm, Hedrick & Stanley of Dallas, to design the building — none of Atlanta’s architects at the time had the chops for such a large-scale project.

    Top O’ Peachtree Restaurant. Photograph from an undated postcard published by Stein Craftsmen of Atlanta.

    For the first 11 years, the 30th floor of The Bank of Georgia tower was occupied by the Top O’ Peachtree restaurant and “lookout lounge”, later described as ‘”the” place to go for dinner or drinks in its beginning.’7

    Based on photographs, Top O’ Peachtree was no doubt an ideal rendezvous for married bank executives and their secretaries. Oh, come on, you know it happened.

    Wyatt C. Hedrick Company with Willner & Millkey.8 9 Fulton National Bank (1955). Atlanta. Photograph from an undated postcard published by Dexter Press, Inc. of West Nyack, New York.

    When the Bank of Georgia tower was sold in 1979, it was described as one of “the two homeliest buildings in town,” along with the nearby Fulton National Bank building (1955),10 which was entirely accurate — then and now.

    Designed by Wyatt C. Hedrick Company of Dallas,11 which later became Hedrick & Stanley, the Fulton National Bank building has been renamed 55 Marietta and remains in active use, now serving as a data center. The Bank of Georgia, however, hasn’t fared as well.

    Detail of windows on The Bank of Georgia (34 Peachtree)

    Later renamed 34 Peachtree, the former Bank of Georgia has passed through a succession of owners and is currently vacant, with missing windows on the upper floors and its street-level retail spaces obscured by brown paper.

    A peek through the doors and windows at night reveals the dead escalators in the lobby and dangling ceiling tiles in the office spaces.

    In 2017, pieces of the building’s facade fell to Peachtree Street during a bout of high winds, prompting the closure of several streets.12

    Looking at the north elevation of The Bank of Georgia (34 Peachtree)

    There have been empty promises to convert 34 Peachtree into residential units,13 but that’s just typical Atlanta bullshitting, quite unlikely to transpire, as the cost to renovate such behemoths is overwhelmingly prohibitive.

    Office buildings are rapidly becoming a relic of the past, and as more skyscrapers begin to deteriorate, it will be interesting to see what cities like Atlanta do with them, particularly as the United States plunges headfirst into inevitable social and economic decline.

    I suspect that in decades to come, many American cities will be filled with vacant, crumbling towers that no one will have the money to demolish or renovate — unsightly monuments from an age of decadence and arrogance best left forgotten.

    Looking at The Bank of Georgia (34 Peachtree) from Edgewood Avenue

    References

    1. Erwin, George. “Bank Plans 31-Story Building At 5 Points, Costing 10 Million”. The Atlanta Journal, March 1, 1959, p. 1. ↩︎
    2. The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, April 2, 1961, Bank of Georgia Section. ↩︎
    3. “Bank of Georgia To Open Monday”. The Atlanta Journal, March 28, 1961, p. 33. ↩︎
    4. Veale, Frank. “35,000 Expected At Gala Opening Of New Building”. The Atlanta Journal, April 2, 1961, p. 2-F. ↩︎
    5. Crown, John. “40-Story Bank Building to Rise in Atlanta”. The Atlanta Journal, August 11, 1963, p. 1. ↩︎
    6. “Atlanta Reaches for the Sky–More Giants on Way”. The Atlanta Journal, May 17, 1966, p. 12. ↩︎
    7. Henderson, Barry. “Top O’ Peachtree Sale Set”. The Atlanta Constitution, September 23, 1972, p. 8. ↩︎
    8. “Equipment Came From All Over U.S., Materials From All Over The World”. The Atlanta Journal, October 18, 1955, p. 3-F. ↩︎
    9. “It’s the tops” (advertisement). The Atlanta Constitution, October 19, 1955, p. 2-F. ↩︎
    10. Kossoff, Evan. “New Owner Giving 2 Downtown Buildings a Facelift”. The Atlanta Constitution, December 10, 1979, p. 9-D. ↩︎
    11. “Company Completes 26-story Fulton National Bank Building on schedule!” (advertisement). The Atlanta Journal, October 18, 1955, p. 18-F. ↩︎
    12. Judd, Alan. “Georgia: Irma set to arrive today.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 11, 2017, p. A1-A6. ↩︎
    13. Torpy, Bill. “Can office conversions save downtown?” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 31, 2023, p. A9. ↩︎
  • Cherokee County Courthouse – Murphy, North Carolina (1892-1895)

    Bruce & Morgan. Cherokee County Courthouse (1892-1895). Murphy, North Carolina.

    The Background

    The following article was published in The State Chronicle in 1890, and includes an illustration and description of the Cherokee County Courthouse in Murphy, North Carolina, designed by Bruce & Morgan.

    A vernacular interpretation of the Romanesque Revival style, the building depicted in the illustration appears to be a competent effort by A.C. Bruce, and an updated version of his plan for the Newton County Courthouse in Covington, Georgia, completed in 1884.

    The only questionable elements in the otherwise cohesive composition are the odd pediment and oversized half-round window above the entrance portico. This wasn’t an exceptional design, by any means, but generally well-proportioned and tastefully executed.

    Location of Cherokee County Courthouse

    The article states that the county’s leaders were unsure whether the courthouse should be built of brick with marble trimmings or “an entire marble face,” a preposterous question for a rural jurisdiction in the Deep South.

    Marble was so cost-prohibitive in the late 19th century that even Atlantans couldn’t afford it as a primary building material, much less the inhabitants of a dirt-poor county in the hills of Carolina.

    Unsurprisingly, the finished courthouse was primarily built with pressed brick, while the foundation and steps were composed of marble.1 The initial cost of the project was reported as $21,5002 by one source and $22,5753 by another, but other reports estimated it at $40,000.4 5 6

    It’s difficult to find a definitive date for the building’s completion, but the cornerstone was laid in July 1891,7 and most sources state it was finished in 1892, which would be a reasonable timeframe.

    Despite this article’s claim that the courthouse would “stand the storm of ages”, the building was destroyed by fire on December 13, 1895,8 less than four years after its completion, although the outer walls were left intact.9

    In early 1896, Bruce & Morgan were hired as architects for the building’s replacement,10 and it appears they essentially replicated the previous design.

    The rebuilt courthouse was also destroyed by fire on January 16, 1926,11 12and replaced with an entirely new structure.13 14

    So much for it being “a monument for centuries to come.”


    Murphy’s New Court House.

    The State Chronicle is glad to be able to present to its readers to day a picture of the new Court House which the Commissioners and Magistrates of Cherokee county have decided to erect at Murphy. It will be a handsome building and an ornament to the town and county, as well as its best advertisement. It is to have a face and trimmings of marble quarried from the Cherokee county quarries. Marble of almost every shade of color is found in Cherokee, and the Western North Carolina Railroad runs in such close proximity to the marble as to enable parties to load it directly from the quarries into the cars. A marble Court House will advertise this marble better than an hundred agents and an hundred newspapers. The Commissioners and Magistrates have not exactly determined whether it shall have an entire marble face, and have advertised for bids with the marble face and only with marble trimming. But they have decided to build it, and it is a decision in which the entire State is interested. It shows that we are going forward. As the Murphy Bulletin well and truly put it: “The Court House will stand the storm of ages and retain its original beauty and magnificence.” The Commissioners and Magistrates have acted wisely, and the Chronicle rejoices that a spirit of faith in the glorious future of their county has been present with them. This marble Court House will be a monument for centuries to come of the wisdom of the men now living in Cherokee.15

    References

    1. “State News.” The Weekly Review (Reidsville, North Carolina). January 21, 1891, p. 7. ↩︎
    2. “Around Town.” Asheville Daily Citizen (Asheville, North Carolina), January 12, 1891, p. 4. ↩︎
    3. “State News.” The Weekly Review (Reidsville, North Carolina). January 21, 1891, p. 7. ↩︎
    4. “Building Notes.” The Atlanta Constitution, February 21, 1890, p. 5. ↩︎
    5. “Murphy’s Marble Court House.” Asheville Daily Citizen (Asheville, North Carolina). December 14, 1895, p. 1. ↩︎
    6. “To Rebuild the Court House.” Asheville Daily Citizen (Asheville, North Carolina), January 7, 1896, p. 1. ↩︎
    7. “Murphy’s Barbecue.” Asheville Daily Citizen (Asheville, North Carolina), July 18, 1891, p. 1. ↩︎
    8. “Murphy’s Marble Court House.” Asheville Daily Citizen (Asheville, North Carolina). December 14, 1895, p. 1. ↩︎
    9. “Cherokee County Court House Swept By Disastrous Fire for Second Time In History, Damage Believed $100,000.” The Sunday Citizen (Asheville, North Carolina), January 17, 1926, p. 20. ↩︎
    10. “To Rebuild the Court House.” Asheville Daily Citizen (Asheville, North Carolina), January 7, 1896, p. 1. ↩︎
    11. “Cherokee Courthouse Is Destroyed By Fire”. The Charlotte News (Charlotte, North Carolina), January 16, 1926, p. 1. ↩︎
    12. “Cherokee County Court House Swept By Disastrous Fire for Second Time In History, Damage Believed $100,000.” The Sunday Citizen (Asheville, North Carolina), January 17, 1926, p. 20. ↩︎
    13. “Start Plans For Cherokee Courthouse”. The Asheville Times (Asheville, North Carolina), January 22, 1926, p. 18. ↩︎
    14. “New Courthouse Will Be Built In Cherokee County”. Salisbury Evening Post (Salisbury, North Carolina), January 28, 1926, p. 6. ↩︎
    15. The State Chronicle (Raleigh, North Carolina), March 11, 1890, p. 3. ↩︎

  • The Edge of Fairlie-Poplar – Atlanta

    From left to right: Muse’s Department Storesign, The Bank of Georgia/34 Peachtree (1961), Citizens & Southern National Bank (1901), English-American Building (1898). Fairlie-Poplar, Atlanta.

  • Robert W. Woodruff Library (1982) – Atlanta University Center

    Joseph Amisano of Toombs, Amisano & Wells with J.W. Robinson and Associates, Inc. Robert W. Woodruff Library (1982). Atlanta University Center.1 2 3 4
    Looking at the Robert W. Woodruff Library from the southeast
    South elevation of the Robert W. Woodruff Library
    Windows on the south elevation of the Robert W. Woodruff Library
    Skylight on the east facade of the Robert W. Woodruff Library
    Looking at the Robert W. Woodruff Library from the northeast
    North elevation of the Robert W. Woodruff Library

    References

    1. Dees, Learned and Hunt, Eunice S. “New AUC Library To Open in Jan.” The Atlanta Voice, November 14, 1981, p. 1B. ↩︎
    2. Salyer, Sharon J. “Library Dedication Is Friday At AUC”. The Atlanta Constitution, April 22, 1982, p. 17-A. ↩︎
    3. Barnes, Beverly. “Woodruff Library Is Dedicated”. The Atlanta Journal-The Atlanta Constitution Weekend, April 24, 1982, p. 14-A. ↩︎
    4. Powell, Kay. “Joe Amisano, admired architect”. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 21, 2008, p. B6. ↩︎