Old Kress Building

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This article is about the 1915 building in 2nd Avenue North. For other buildings, see Kress Building.
The Old Kress building in the 1920s. courtesy BPL Archives

The Old Kress Building is a 4-story, 14,200 square-foot terra-cotta clad commercial building at 1910-1914 2nd Avenue North in downtown Birmingham. It was constructed in 1915 for the S. H. Kress & Co. 5-and 10-cent store. The building was designed by company architect Seymour Burrell, and constructed by the Standard Contracting Company with tiles manufactured by the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company.

The building was Kress' second location in the city. The first location, at 1915 3rd Avenue North, became home to Odum, Bowers & White clothing company after the new store opened.

In 1937, Kress moved to the new S. H. Kress and Company Building at 3rd Avenue North and 19th Street.

The 2nd avenue building was soon divided into three shops, housing W. T. Grant & Co. department store, Burt's Ladies Shoes, the Peggy Hale Dress Shop. Later tenants included Snow's Cards & Gifts. the Dollar Shoe Box, and Wig Market.

The vacant building is owned by William Thornton of Atlanta, Georgia.

To left:
Family Dollar
2nd Avenue North, north side
1910-14
To right:
DVD And CD Exchange
Preceded by:
?
1910-14 2nd Avenue North
1915 - present
Succeeded by:
current

References