Family Reserve Insurance building
The Family Reserve Insurance building (later the Baptist Women's Missionary Union building and the Land Title Building) is a limestone-clad office building constructed in 1945 for the Family Reserve Insurance Company. It is located on the former site of the A. W. Smith residence on the northwest corner of 20th Street and 6th Avenue North on Block 34.
The Greek-Revival style building was originally two stories tall with a basement. It was designed by Warren, Knight & Davis to face diagonally into the intersection, allowing room for an 8-column Doric portico. The exterior is clad in Alabama limestone, trimmed with Alabama marble. The basement level originally contained an auditorium, file storage, bathrooms, a conference room and a recreation room which opened at grade to a courtyard in the interior of the block. The first floor was occupied by executive offices while the accounting department was housed on the second floor. Elevators and an intercom system provided easy connection to each floor, while central air-conditioning and "acoustic correction" kept the offices comfortable. On the outside extensive landscaping and floodlighting enhanced the building's classical appearance.
The Family Reserve Insurance Company was acquired by the Liberty National Life Insurance Company in 1950. The building later housed the Baptist Women's Missionary Union and, since 1987, the Land Title Mortgage Company.
References
- "New Buildings to Change Old Landscapes" in Blueprints of a Better Birmingham (1945) Birmingham: Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
- White, Marjorie Longenecker (1977) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.