Hotel Row Explained

Hotel Row Historic District
Nrhp Type:hd
Location:205--235 Mitchell St., Atlanta, Georgia
Coordinates:33.7522°N -84.3953°W
Built:1892 - 1908
Architect:Bruce & Morgan
Willis F. Denny
George W. Laine
Architecture:Early commercial
Added:July 20, 1989
Nocat:yes
Refnum:89000802

Hotel Row is both a National Register and locally listed historic district consisting of one block of early 20th-century commercial buildings, three to four stories high, located on Mitchell Street west of Forsyth Street in the South Downtown district of Atlanta.[1] The buildings were originally hotels with ground level retail shops built to serve the needs of passengers from Terminal Station, opened in 1905. The buildings are the most intact row of early 20th-century commercial structures in Atlanta's original business district. The decline of Hotel Row began in the 1920s due to the increased availability of automobile transportation and the construction of the Spring Street viaduct, which made getting to hotels in the northern part of the city easier. In the 1950s and 1960s, the increase in air travel led ultimately to the demolition of Terminal Station in 1971.[2] [3]

The district is architecturally significant because the structures that make up the block retain most of their original historic architectural character. Several structures were developed by Samuel Inman and Walker Inman, two of Atlanta's most prominent businessmen, and the majority of the structures were designed by the leading architects of the period. They typify the early 20th-century commercial structures once common in Atlanta but now rare because of extensive redevelopment. With Atlanta's massive gentrification, plans were underway to convert some of the buildings into lofts, however these plans ultimately stalled as a result of the Late-2000s recession.[2] [3]

Buildings

Buildings in Hotel Row are:[3]

Building Year built Address
Mitchell St.
(current)
Address
Mitchell St.
(pre-1926)
Architects Notes
Concordia Hall 1892 201-209 35-43 Bruce & MorganConcordia Assn. would become the Standard Club
Gordon Hotel
(form. Child's Hotel, Princeton Hotel)
211-215 45-49
  1. 215 Gordon Lofts
Commercial building 1908 217-221 51-53
Scoville Hotel
(form. Marion Hotel)
1908 223-225 55-57 George W. Laine
The Factory Building 1908 227-231 59-63 George W. Laine
  1. 227, Factory Lofts;
    #231 houses Lunacy Black Market restaurant
Sylvan Hotel
(orig. known as "Terminal Hotel Annex";
also housed the Williams Hotel)
1908 (permit issued) 233-235 65-67
  1. 233 houses Sylvan Factory Partners

Notes and References

  1. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=89000802}} National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Row Historic District]. 2015-01-08. Lisa Raflo. PDF. National Park Service. May 24, 1989.
  2. http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/atlanta/hot.htm "Hotel Row Historic District", National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary, National Park Service
  3. http://www.atlantaga.gov/index.aspx?page=466 "Hotel Row", City of Atlanta, Urban Design Commission