About this property
The Mason Building is a historic commercial building at 115 East Clinton Avenue in Huntsville, Alabama, United States. It was commissioned by the Mason furniture company and built in 1927 by local architect Edgar Lee Love. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The façade is clad in terra cotta tiles, with piers at the corners extending above the cornice. The ground floor has large glass panes and a recessed central entrance. A terra cotta band painted with a wave pattern separates the ground floor from the mezzanine-level windows, three in each bay. The mezzanine and second floor are separated by stepped rows of tiles, a wider band which originally featured a scalloped molding with a bell design, two rows of dentils (small then large), and a cornice. The second floor is divided by two wide piers, with two multi-light casement windows in the outer bays and three in the middle. The simple cornice and piers extending above it are a by-product of the intended five-story design being cut short. In 1908, when Huntsville was a milling town with a flourishing economy, business partners James "Jim" Mason (1880–1948) and J.D. Manning opened Manning & Mason, a 300 square feet furniture store at 109 E. Holmes Avenue. However, Manning died shortly after the business opened, leaving Mason as the sole proprietor. The firm expanded over the years, and by 1913 relocated to 105 W. Clinton Street. The store boasted ″one of the largest lines of furniture to be found in the Spring City.″ Mason also opened a warehouse on Jefferson Street known as Mason's No. 2. The firm eventually expanded to 42,000 square feet of floor space in 1926. In 1927, Mason commissioned the construction of the building, which he intended to lease to other tenants, and received five bids ranging from $50,000 to $65,000. Mason entrusted the project to Edgar Lee Love, a local architect. The works were carried out by local contractor Charles E. Baxter. Though Love originally planned for five stories, the construction was interrupted after the second story by fear of altering the skyline of the town. Sears Roebuck began leasing the building in March 1929, at which time they appointed contractor G. A. Rogers to build a mezzanine and an elevator, and bring fourth interior improvements. Sears left Huntsville in 1931 in the midst of the Great Depression, and Mason's moved their store into the building. The mezzanine was then enlarged to its current size. In 1939, local architect Paul M. Speake was appointed to build a rear extension, again with the help of Charles E. Baxter. When James Mason died in 1948, the company was taken over by his brother, William Oscar Mason. The company remained in the building until it went bankrupt in 1977.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Mason Building listed on the National Register?
Mason Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 21, 1980.
What type of historic resource is Mason Building?
Mason Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Mason Building?
The period of significance for Mason Building is recorded as the industrial era, specifically around 1927.
Can I research the history near Mason Building?
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