Woodward Building
The Woodward Building is a 10-story, 132 foot tall Chicago-style steel-frame office tower built on the southwest corner of 20th Street and 1st Avenue North in 1902. The building was financed by William H. Woodward from the proceeds of his sale of Woodward Iron Company, and was one of the earlier designs of architect William C. Weston. The contractor was Ino Griffiths and Son of Chicago, Illinois.
The building features a light brown brick façade. The cornice is an elaborately detailed metal construction of the type common in commercial architecture of the time. The interior was finished with tile and marble wainscot in the corridors, oak paneling in the offices, and a monumental wrought-iron and marble stair.
At the time of its construction, no building in Birmingham was nearly so large or tall and serious doubts were raised about the ability of the local office market to absorb the added space. The criticisms recalled those that followed the erection of Linn's Folly on the opposite corner 30 years earlier. Nevertheless, the Woodward Building was fully leased at completion and was eagerly followed within a few years by several larger office towers, including three others at the same intersection.
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 the 1930s the lower floors were re-clad with dark-green and black polished granite.
In 1983 the Woodward Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1985 Doster Construction completed an interior and exterior renovation designed by KPS Group
References
- Jefferson County Historical Commission. (1998) Birmingham and Jefferson County, Alabama Images of America Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN0752413465
- 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.