| Winter Building | |
| Coordinates: | 32.3769°N -86.3086°W |
| Architecture: | Italianate |
| Added: | January 14, 1972 |
| Area: | less than one acre |
| Refnum: | 72000175 |
The Winter Building is a historic building in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. The 3-story structure was built as a bank branch with a telegraph office upstairs.[1]
The building was erected from 1841 to 1843 for John Gindrat, a cotton broker and banker.[2] It was inherited by his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Gindrat, and her husband, Joseph S. Winter, in 1854.[2]
During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, the second floor was home to the Southern Telegraph Company.[2] It was there that LeRoy Pope Walker, the Confederate States Secretary of War, sent a telegram to General P. G. T. Beauregard to advise him to fire on Fort Sumter, and thus start the Battle of Fort Sumter.[2]
It remained in the same family as late as the 1970s, when it was used for offices and a clothing store.[2]
The building was designed in the Italianate architectural style.[2] It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since January 14, 1972.[3]