Watts Building (1888): Difference between revisions

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[[Image:1888 Watts Building.jpg|right|thumb|375px|[[O. V. Hunt]] photograph of the Watts Building]]
[[Image:1888 Watts Building.jpg|right|thumb|375px|[[O. V. Hunt]] photograph of the Watts Building]]
The first '''Watts Building''' was a richly ornamented four-story Second-Empire style commercial building on the northwest corner of [[3rd Avenue North]] and [[20th Street North|20th Street]] in downtown [[Birmingham]]. It was constructed for [[Thomas Watts III]] by [[Charles M. Allen and Son]] in [[1888]]. The building was designed by [[Charles Wheelock]] in the Second Empire style, with a rusticated base, grouped windows with brick arches on the second and third floors, and a deep cornice with a mansard roof above.
The first '''Watts Building''' was a richly ornamented four-story Second-Empire style commercial building on the northwest corner of [[3rd Avenue North]] and [[20th Street North|20th Street]] in downtown [[Birmingham]]. It was constructed for [[Thomas Watts III]] by [[Charles M. Allen and Son]] in [[1888]]. The building was designed by [[Charles Wheelock]] of [[Wheelock & Wheelock]] in the Second Empire style, with a rusticated base, grouped windows with brick arches on the second and third floors, and a deep cornice with a mansard roof above.


In [[1927]] Watts hired [[Allen & Son]] to demolish the 39-year-old building to make room for a [[Watts Building (1927)|new 17-story tower]] on the same site.
In [[1927]] Watts hired Allen & Son to demolish the 39-year-old building to make room for a [[Watts Building (1927)|new 17-story tower]] on the same site.


==Tenants==
==Tenants==
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Among the law firms with offices in the Watts Building were [[John Heflin]] and [[William Bulger]];  [[James Little]]; [[L. C. Dickey]] and [[J. F. Gillespie]]; and [[W. M. Brooks]] and [[R. L. Brooks]].
Among the law firms with offices in the Watts Building were [[John Heflin]] and [[William Bulger]];  [[James Little]]; [[L. C. Dickey]] and [[J. F. Gillespie]]; and [[W. M. Brooks]] and [[R. L. Brooks]].


Room 1: [[Smith & Norton]] real estate, 1909
* Room 1: [[Smith & Norton]] real estate, 1909
Room 10: [[J. J. McDavid]], real estate law, 1888
* Room 10: [[J. J. McDavid]], real estate law, 1888
Room 14: [[Laura E. Burton]] and [[Irene Bullard]], physicians, 1906
* Room 14: [[Laura E. Burton]] and [[Irene Bullard]], physicians, 1906
Room 15: [[Harry Breeding|Breeding]] and [[David O. Whilldin|Whilldin]], architects, 1904
* Room 15: [[Breeding & Whilldin]], architects, 1904


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 14:48, 7 July 2015

O. V. Hunt photograph of the Watts Building

The first Watts Building was a richly ornamented four-story Second-Empire style commercial building on the northwest corner of 3rd Avenue North and 20th Street in downtown Birmingham. It was constructed for Thomas Watts III by Charles M. Allen and Son in 1888. The building was designed by Charles Wheelock of Wheelock & Wheelock in the Second Empire style, with a rusticated base, grouped windows with brick arches on the second and third floors, and a deep cornice with a mansard roof above.

In 1927 Watts hired Allen & Son to demolish the 39-year-old building to make room for a new 17-story tower on the same site.

Tenants

Early tenants in the Watts building included architect J. W. McClain and the Eubank Brothers' dental parlor. In 1905 chemist Jefferson J. Peek opened his Peek Beverage Company in the Watts Building.

Among the law firms with offices in the Watts Building were John Heflin and William Bulger; James Little; L. C. Dickey and J. F. Gillespie; and W. M. Brooks and R. L. Brooks.

References

  • North Alabama (Illustrated) (1888) Birmingham: Southern Commercial Publishing Co.
  • "Doctor Kills Wife and Self; Dentist Shot." (April 10, 1906) "Birmingham Age-Herald", republished by A. J. Wright, Early Female Physicians of Alabama - accessed June 1, 2006
  • Satterfield, Carolyn Green. (1976) Historic Sites of Jefferson County, Alabama. Prepared for the Jefferson County Historical Commission. Birmingham: Gray Printing Co.
  • White, Marjorie Longenecker, ed. (1977) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham:Birmingham Historical Society