Brown Marx Building

The Brown Mark Building in 2008

The Brown Marx Building (or Brown Marx Tower) is a 193,000 square foot, 16-story, 210 foot tall Chicago-style steel-frame office tower on the northeast corner of 20th Street and 1st Avenue North. From its completion in 1906, until it was eclipsed by the Empire Building three years later, it was the tallest structure in Birmingham.

History

The site of the Brown Marx Building was where Charles Linn built the National Bank of Birmingham in 1873. Known as "Linn's Folly", the building hosted Birmingham's first Calico Ball.

The Brown Marx Building was named for Otto Marx of Marx & Company and Eugene L. Brown of Brown Brothers, early tenants of the structure. (The alternate name, The Eugeneotto Building, was rejected early-on). It was built in two phases beginning with a narrow 16-story tower on the corner (pictured), which was completed in 1906.

The immediate success of that development encouraged iron magnate William Woodward to purchase the building and more than double its overall size over the next two years. His 1908 expansion created a U-shaped plan with an average of about 12,000 square feet per floor and windows providing natural light to every office. A four-story Brown Marx annex was constructed just east of the tower facing 1st Avenue. Its ground floor was leased as an independent space while the upper floors connected with the tower.

The original Brown Marx Building in 1906

The building was financed by the Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Company. Both sections were designed by architect William Weston and constructed by John Griffith & Sons of Chicago, Illinois.

The exterior of the building was light-colored brick with rusticated banding and arched windows on the third story, surmounted by a cornice. The ground floor was clad in stone with broad expanses of glass showcasing retail goods. The interior was clad in Alabama marble, and the roof parapet was surrounded by a broad, highly detailed cornice. Most of these details have since been removed. As early as 1930, when the building was again expanded, the rusticated story was covered over with a more "streamlined" art-deco inspired light-colored banding.

The four early Twentieth century skyscrapers at 20th Street and 1st Avenue were billed, at the time, as the "Heaviest Corner in the South." Over the years, that claim was inflated to the improbable "Heaviest Corner on Earth", which remains a popular name for the grouping. In 1985 the "Heaviest Corner on Earth" was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Brown Marx Building is the only tower of the four not to also be individually listed.

In 1951 U.S. Steel (which had absorbed TCI) moved their Birmingham headquarters from the Brown Marx to the new Flintridge Building in Fairfield. A pool hall was located in the basement for a while. Other tenants included the Southern Building Code Congress. The cornice was removed and replaced by a metal-clad mechanical enclosure at the roofline in the early 1970s. In the 1980s, the building was owned by the Gittlin Companies of Fairfield, New Jersey.

Recent plans

In 2002, Inman Park Properties purchased the Brown Marx Building along with the Empire Building across 20th Street and the Commerce Center at 1st Avenue North and 21st Street. The following year they proposed to convert the Brown Marx into over 100 loft apartments, perhaps in tandem with the Empire Building. In advance of the planned renovation they moved most of Brown Marx's tenants to the Commerce Center. Unable to negotiate a deal with the Birmingham Parking Authority to build a new deck adjacent to the site, they abandoned the renovation.

In 2004 Operation New Birmingham put it on their 12 Most Wanted list of downtown buildings in need of renovation.

In 2006 SAW Holdings LLC, a group of local investors led by former Pride Restaurants owner Arnold Whitmore announced places for a $22 million renovation of the building, including 108 condominiums, a roof-top pool, gym, spa, a top-floor bar, an executive office suite, and ground floor restaurant, office and retail space. The proposal included a 200-space parking deck to be built adjacent to the tower. RealtySouth and Nationwide were jointly marketing the condominiums and opened sales office in the building.

Falling glass from upper-story windows caused the Birmingham Department of Planning, Engineering & Permits to require the owner to protect the sidewalks with covered walkways which were installed in September, 2006. In 2009 part of the metal facade came loose during a strong windstorm. The city entered into an emergency contract to remove the metal in the interest of public safety.

In March 2012, National Bank of Commerce sold the building to Hughes Capital Partners. They opened an office in the adjoining Brown-Marx Annex as they considered possibilities for redevelopment. In 2017 they removed the decade-old sidewalk covers to clean up around the building.

In January 2018 an LLC affiliated with Ascent Hospitality, developer of the Elyton Hotel, purchased the Brown Marx Building for $3.66 million. The company carried out some clean-up and stabilization work during 2019, but made no announcements concerning future plans. In 2023 a crane was set up on 1st Avenue North to replace roof equipment on the building.

Tenants

Retail tenants

• Gold Lion Tea & Lunch Room (1910)
• Zac Smith Stationery Company (1922-)
• Subway Billiard Parlor, W. L. Jackson, manager (1909–1923), Brown-Marx Amusement Co. (1949)
• R. D. Burnett Cigar Co. (1909) Brown-Marx Cigar Company (1930s), Brown Marx Cigar & Soda (1949)
• Brown-Marx Barber Shop (1949)
• Christian Science Reading Room (1990s)
• Southern Railway "City Ticket Office"

Rooms

Early tenants in the Brown Marx building included TCI, Pratt Consolidated Coal Company, Southern Iron & Steel Company, Birmingham Coal & Iron Company, Montevallo Coal Company, Shelby Iron Company, Empire Coal Company, Galloway Coal Company and Cement Block & Manufacturing Company.

Other offices included those of Adams, Rowe & Norman, coal wholesalers; C. W. Austin, private detective; Bodeker's National Detective Agency; Employers Insurance Company; Lathrop Lumber Company; Oliver-Watts Construction Company; Jack B. Smith, architect; T. S. Smith & Sons auto dealers; the Southern Building Code Congress; the Raymond J. Horn School of Drafting; Hillman-Watts Land Company; W. A. Watts, Realtor and Watts Realty.

Attorneys Percy, Benners & Burr, who counted TCI among their clients, kept offices there. Moses Ullman had offices in the building in 1915.

Watts Realty managed the Brown Marx Tower from 1974 until its sale to a new owner in the early 1980s. The realty company relocated its offices to the Arlington Business Center in 1984.

Henry Sprott Long & Associates occupied offices in the 16th floor until moving to Lakeview in the early 1960s.

• 2nd floor
  • 201–203: White & Heflin (1909), Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. (1949)
  • 204–212: Marx & Co. investment bankers (1949)
    • 204–208: Otto Marx & Co. (1909)
    • 209: J. K. Orr Shoe Co. (1909)
    • 210: D. H. Brown & Co. / Greensboro Life Insurance Co. (1909)
  • 214–215: Roscoe Chamblee attorney (1949)
    • 214: Edgar Allen (1909)
    • 215: Building Material Men's Exchange / Woodward Labor Co. (1909)
  • 216–218: Crowell-Collier Publishing Co. (1949)
    • 216: Drennen & Cocke (1909)
    • 218: Patterson & Brandon (1909)
  • 219–221: vacant (1949)
    • 219: Birmingham Ore & Mining Co. / Harry Krouse / Southern Credit Adjustment Co. (1909)
    • 220: Ullman & Winkler / Vulcan Land & Investment Co. (1909)
  • 222–223: Hugo Marx & Co. investment bankers (1949)
  • 224–226: James A. Evans electrical engineer (1949)
  • 227–228: Earl Fricks accountant / Dixie Realty Co. (1949)
  • 229–230: Life Insurance Co. of Georgia (1949)
  • 231–233: Avon Products Inc. (1949)
  • 234: McKinstry's Flowers office (1949)
  • 235–237: International Shoe Co. (1949)
  • 238: Dixie Wholesale Optical office (1949)
  • 239–242: Brown-Marx store rooms (1949)
  • 243–245: Paul Wright & Co. mechanical engineers (1949)
  • 246–249: Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (1949)
  • 250–252: Dixie Wholesale Optical Co. shop (1949)
  • 253–256: John Nappi tailor (1949)
• 3rd floor
  • 301–306: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. sales department (1949)
    • 301: Moore & Reynolds / W. J. Dangaix & Co. (1909)
    • 304: Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. (1909)
  • 307: F. Y. Anderson / Alabama State Land Co. / Acton Mining Co. (1909)
  • 310: G. W. Yancey / Realty Building & Loan Association (1909)
  • 314: Bolt Investment Co. (1909)
  • 315: Steel City Labor Co. (1909)
  • 316–318: B. F. Eborn (1909)
  • 319–321: Ebbert & Kirkman Co. manufacturers' agents (1949)
    • 319: North Birmingham Fire Brick & Proofing Co. / American Bonding Co. (1909)
    • 320: Birmingham Typewriting Co. (1909)
    • 321: Brooks Lumber Co. (1909)
  • 322–323: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. sales department (1949)
  • 324–326: Pilot Life Insurance Co. (1949)
  • 327–328: Electro Metallurgical Co. / Electro Metallurgical Sales Co. (1949)
  • 329–331: vacant (1949)
  • 332–333: The Maccabees (1949)
  • 334: T. Morris Franis consulting engineer (1949)
  • 335–336: Mary Sanford stenographer (1949)
  • 338: Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society (1949)
  • 339: Whitehead & Hoag Co. advertising (1949)
  • 340–341: William A. Watts real estate / Hillman-Watts Land Co. (1949)
  • 342–347: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. sales department (1949)
  • 348–349: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. store rooms (1949)
  • 350–352: Carl Fox physician (1949)
  • 353–354: Cook & Garber Inc. investment bankers / Joseph Norman (1949)
• 4th floor
  • 401–403: Otis Elevator Co. / E. W. Moore (1909), George Barnard / Russell Bryan consulting engineers (1949)
  • 404–406: J. A. Yates & Co. (1909), Manley Moor wholesale coal (1949)
  • 407–408: Perkins & Dupuy (1909), Walter Lass tailor (1949)
  • 409–414: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. plant protection department (1949)
    • 409: L. M. Robertson / Southern Mining Co. (1909)
    • 410: J. F. B. Baugh / Barrong G. Collier Inc. (1909)
    • 414: J. L. Parry (1909)
  • 415–416: Bessemer Fire Brick Co. (1909), Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. cash office (1949)
  • 419: K-S Lumber Co. (1909), vacant (1949)
  • 420–421: Nurses Official Registry of Alabama / State Nurses Association (1949)
  • 422–423: Klotz Insurance Agency (1949)
  • 424–428: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. market research / Universal Exploration Co. (1949)
  • 429: Appleton Electric Co. / National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (1949)
  • 430–433: Black Creek Coal & Coke Co. (1949)
  • 434: Westbrook Realty Co. (1949)
  • 435–437: Otey Realty Co. (1949)
  • 438: Woman's Benefit Association insurance (1949)
  • 440–441: Columbian Mutual Life Insurance Co. (1949)
  • 444–445: Thomas Supply Co. manufacturers' agents (1949)
  • 446–447: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. wholesale (1949)
  • 448: James Phillips electrical engineer (1949)
  • 450–452: Westbrook & Co. Inc. real estate (1949)
  • 453–454: Eugene Aromi real estate (1949)
  • 455: David Crawford real estate (1949)
• 5th floor
  • 501: Birmingham Car & Manufacturing Co. (1909), George Witcher Jr (1949)
  • 502–503: Beach Chenoweth (1949)
  • 504–508: Walter Fowlkes Jr / Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. (1949)
    • 504: W. T. Berry / J. A. Blue (1909)
    • 507: W. B. Phillips & Son (1909)
    • 508: T. S. Smith / F. W. Smith / American Box & Veneer Co. / Gate City Chert Co. (1909)
  • 509: Abbott & Daugette (1909), Federated Metals division American Smelting & Refining Co. (1949)
  • 510–514: Burlington Lines / Colorado & Southern Railway / Fort Worth & Denver City Railway / Wichita Valley Railway (1949)
    • 510: Washington Life Insurance Co. / W. J. Cameron / John A. Roebling's Sons Co. (1909)
    • 514: F. A. Lupton / E. L. Scott (1909)
  • 515: Life Insurance Society of America (1949)
  • 516: Industrial Lumber & Coal Co. (1909)
  • 519: Monro Warrior Coal & Coke Co. (1909)
  • 520–521: Commercial Casualty Insurance Co. / National Casualty Co. (1949)
  • 522-523: Texas & Pacific Railway Co. (1949)
  • 524–528: Brown-Marx Co. real estate (1949)
  • 529–533: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. training bureau (1949)
  • 535–539: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. safety bureau (1949)
  • 540: Birmingham Hearing Center (1949)
  • 550–552: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. store rooms (1949)
• 6th floor
  • 601–603: W. E. Drennen (1909), vacant (1949)
  • 604–608: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. accounting department (1949)
    • 604: J. A. Allen Jr / R. F. Ashworth (1909)
    • 607: C. A. Fox (1909)
  • 609–612: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. sales department (1949)
    • 609: Union Discount Co. (1909)
    • 610: Percy Reid / J. R. Dawson (1909)
  • 614–621: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. comptroller's department (1949)
    • 614: W. G. Harrison (1909)
    • 616: T. A. Casey / E. C. Bandy / Hardee Johnston / Frank Walton / J. R. Snyder / H. P. Shugerman (1909)
    • 619: E. M. Robinson (1909)
    • 621: A. T. Newell (1909)
  • 622–626: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. metallurgical department (1949)
  • 627–633: Universal Atlas Cement Co. (1949)
  • 634–638: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. salary administration bureau (1949)
  • 640–652: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. office service bureau (1949)
• 7th floor
  • 701–703: Niles-Bement-Pond Co. (1909), Union Pacific Railroad Co. freight & passenger agent (1949)
  • 704: Equitable Life Assurance Society / G. T. Sibley (1909), H. H. Robertson Co. building supplies (1949)
  • 709: John R. Whie & Co. merchandise broker (1949)
  • 710–712: David Solomon attorney (1949)
    • 711: Southern Railway general freight office (1909)
  • 715: Marshall Kerchner & Co. foundry supplies (1949)
  • 716–718: North Birmingham Land Co. / Empire Coal Co. (1909), Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. sanitary engineering (1949)
  • 719–720: Employees Insurance Club (1949)
    • 720: Missouri Pacific Railway (1909)
  • 721: National Life & Accident Insurance Co. (1909)
  • 722–728: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. sales division (1949)
  • 729–734: Adams, Rowe & Norman Inc. wholesale coal / Yolande Coal & Coke Co. (1949)
  • 735–737: Birmingham Southern Railroad Co. car service department (1949)
  • 738: Electric Controller & Manufacturing Co. (1949)
  • 739–751: Murdoch Meriwether / Alf Walker Jr / Little Cahaba Sales Co. wholesale coal (1949)
  • 740–741: Blaw-Knox Co. fabricators (1949)
  • 742-743: vacant (1949)
  • 746–747: Retail Credit Co. (1949)
  • 750: Southern Building Code Congress / Southern Building Official journal (1949)
  • 751: Engineers Club of Birmingham (1949)
  • 752: Johns-Manville Sales Corp. (1949)
• 8th floor
  • 801–803: Delmar Coal Co. / Panama Coal & Iron Co. (1909), Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. sales department (1949)
  • 804–811: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. paymaster (1949)
    • 804: A. C. Cameron / H. E. Pressly (1909)
    • 807: Corona Coal & Iron Co. / Alabama Coal Co. (1909)
    • 809: A. G. Douglass (1909)
    • 810: A. C. Foster (1909)
  • 812–821: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. industrial engineering department (1949)
    • 814: Big Cahaba Coal Co. / Braehead Coal Co. / J. E. Donelson (1909)
    • 815: Farm Realty Co. (1909)
    • 817: Cordova Coal & Coake Co. / Hobson Coal & Coke Co. / Export Pratt Coal Co. (1909)
    • 818–820: Standard Lumber & Manufacturing Co. / H. F. Wood (1909)
  • 822–839: Birmingham Southern Railroad Co. general offices (1949)
  • 822–852: Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co. steamship line / Birmingham Southern Railroad Co. accounting department (1949)
  • 830: Inland Water Ways Corp. / Warrior River Terminal Co. / Federal Barge Lines (1949)
• 9th floor
  • 901–907: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. comptroller's division (1949)
    • 901–903: Dayton Hydraulic Machinery Co. / C. D. Smith & Co. / G. B. Turner (1909)
    • 907: The Pullman Co. (1909)
  • 909–921: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. traffic department (1949)
    • 910–912: Birmingham Coal & Iron Co. (1909)
      • 910: J. F. Webb (1909)
    • 918–919: Birmingham Engineering Co. (1909)
    • 920: Wyatt Heflin (1909)
  • 922–926: Monsanto Chemical Co. (1949)
  • 927–952: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. tabulation bureau (1949)
• 10th floor
  • 1001–1008: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. public relations department (1949)
    • 1001: Williamson Iron Co. / J. B. Simpson Audit Co. (1909)
    • 1004: R. C. Foster & Co. (1909)
    • 1007: Montevallo Mining Co. / Hillabee Gold Mining Co. (1909)
    • 1008: E. L. Penruddocke (1909)
  • 1009–1021: Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. sales promotion division (1949)
    • 1009: H. C. Selheimer (1909)
    • 1010: Marbury Lumber Co. (1909)
    • 1014: R. C. Foster Co. (1909)
    • 1015: Continental Casualty Co. (1909)
    • 1021: Allen & Co. / G. H. Davis & Co. / T. B. Taylor (1909)
  • 1022–1030: E. I. duPont de Nemours & Co. explosives (1949)
  • 1034–1052: Benners, Burr, Stokely & McKamy attorneys (1949)
• 11th floor
  • Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. (1949)
    • 1101: Birmingham Terminal Co. (1909)
    • 1107: Pratt Consolidated Coal Co. (1909)
• 12th floor
  • Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. (1949)
    • 1201: Bessemer Coal, Iron & Land Co. (1909)
    • 1204: W. H. Hassinger (1909)
    • 1210–1221: Southern Steel Co. (1909)
      • 1210: J. C. Long / P. T. Whilden (1909)
• 13th floor
  • Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. (1949)
    • 1301–1306: Protective Life Insurance Co. (1909)
    • 1307: Fruit Dispatch Co. (1909)
    • 1310: Hinds Peevey / H. H. Goldstein (1909)
    • 1314: R. D. Johnston Jr (1909)
    • 1315: Tidewater Development Co. (1909)
    • 1320: W. A. Chenoweth (1909)
    • 1321: Birmingham & Gulf Railway & Navigation Co. (1909)
    • 1329: United States Steel Supply Co. (1949)
• 14th floor
  • Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. (1949)
    • 1401: J. V. Allen / Alabama Coal Operators Association (1909)
    • 1406: Hammond-Byrd Co. (1909)
    • 1407: Crocker Wheeler Co. (1909)
    • 1409: W. H. Moore Lumber Co. (1909)
    • 1410: W. H. Johnston & Co. / P. T. Whilden (1909)
    • 1414: E. G. Cole (1909)
    • 1416: Shelby Iron Co. / Coosa Pipe & Foundry Co. / Imperial Coal & Coke Co. / Gray Ore Iron Co. / Gadsden Pipe & Fittings Co. (1909)
    • 1420: H. W. Canning & Co. / Murphy Iron Works (1909)
• 15th floor
  • Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. (1949)
    • 1501: Lathrop Lumber Co. (1909)
    • 1507: J. C. King (1909)
    • 1509: J. G. Edwards (1909)
    • 1510–1515: Yolande Coal & Coke Co. / Ashby Brick Co. / New Connellsville Coal & Coke Co. / Black Crow Coal Co. / Abernant Coal Co. / J. L. Davidson (1909)
      • 1510: S. A. Hobson (1909)
    • 1516: Aetna Life Insurance Co. / G. C. Oliver (1909)
    • 1519: J. B. Robinson (1909)
    • 1520: Meade & Huey (1909)
• 16th floor
  • Revolute Blue Print Co. (1909), Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co. (1949)

References

• Jefferson County Historical Commission. (1998) Birmingham and Jefferson County, Alabama Images of America Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN0752413465
• Nicholson, Gilbert (July 25, 2003) "100 lofts will fill Brown-Marx". Birmingham Business Journal
• Tomberlin, Michael (February 12, 2006) "Brown-Marx joins hot condo market". The Birmingham News
• Prouty, William F. (1916) "Preliminary Report on The Crystalline and Other Marbles of Alabama". Bulletin 18. Geological Survey of Alabama.
• 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 Birmiingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society
• Sims, Bob (December 9, 2009) "Metal facade blows loose from Birmingham building, closes road." The Birmingham News
• Tomberlin, Michael (February 13, 2011) "Downtown dreams: Renovation slow for prominent buildings." The Birmingham News
• Tomberlin, Michael (March 31, 2012) "Downtown Birmingham's Brown-Marx Tower has a new owner." The Birmingham News
• Poe, Ryan (August 3, 2012) "Apartments planned for historic Brown-Marx" Birmingham Business Journal
• Godwin, Brent (January 23, 2018) "Brown-Marx tower gets new owner." Birmingham Business Journal
• Edgemon, Erin (February 12, 2018) "96-room luxury hotel planned for downtown Birmingham high-rise." The Birmingham News

External links

• Heaviest Corner on Earth NRHP application