The Republic Block (completed in 1873) was at the time of its completion one of the most remarkable commercial constructions in Atlanta. It faced Pryor Street between Decatur St. and Railroad Ave. (now Wall St.), now site of Georgia State University buildings. It faced the Kimball House which stood across Pryor St. to the northwest. The block was built on the initiative of William Goodnow, a manager for the Republic Insurance Company of Chicago,[1] with partners ex-governor Joseph E. Brown, Judge O. A. Lochrane, and others[2] Its first tenants were hardware mostly wholesale and other dealers (hardware, diamonds, jewelry, millinery, dry goods, boots and shoes, clothing, tobacco and cigars), as well as an architect, attorney, a bank, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Republic Insurance Company.[1]
The "Republic block" was demolished in 1940 and replaced with a garage and automobile filling station.[3]
- ^ a b Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, Volume 1, Franklin Miller Garrett, p.896
- ^ Atlanta illustrated, 1881, Edward Young Clarke, p.53
- ^ "Old landmarks make way for Progress, Half Business Block is to be Torn Away". The Atlanta Constitution. February 18, 1940. p. Eight K.