Rich's Downtown Department Store, 45 Broad Street, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA

Significance: The original 1924 building, which has been added to eight times, reflects the appearance of an Italian palazzo, a favorite theme associated with department stores constructed in the early twentieth century. The 1946/1948 Store for Homes addition is one of Atlanta's earliest examples of International Style architecture. The Rich's complex is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Rich's is significant as the focus of retail shopping in downtown Atlanta since the store's opening in 1924, and as the location from which Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested following a sit-in as Rich's Magnolia Room restaurant, leading to his first night ever spent in jail.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N788

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1051

Survey number: HABS GA-2290

Building/structure dates: 1924 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1994 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1946-1948 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1935 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1937 Subsequent Work

Building/structure dates: 1939-1940 Subsequent Work

department stores brick buildings open plan buildings commerce domestic life clothing industry food industry fur trade building deterioration civil rights stores and shops restaurants international style architectural elements streamline moderne architectural elements atlanta rich downtown store downtown department store broad broad street fulton county georgia jennifer almand federated department stores adler and schutze hentz reid and adler hentz historic american buildings survey martin luther king m rich and brothers otis elevator company morris rich philip trammell shutze stevens and wilkinson toombs and creighton photo rich downtown department store ultra high resolution high resolution jail bauhaus design library of congress national register of historic places

1924 - 1980

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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