Encore: 20th Century Skyscrapers

20TH CENTURY HUNTSVILLE SKYSCRAPERS BUILT BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

Written by Nancy Wilkinson Van Valkenburgh Photos by Vicki Van Valkenburgh

After World War I, the United States of America was recognized as a leader on the World stage. Possibilities seemed limitless. There was prosperity everywhere and Huntsville, never a city to be left behind, was poised for greatness in the new age.

Not on the radar - which was yet to be invented - was the kind of city planning used in cities like Paris, France and Washington, D.C., which had height restrictions in some areas. The Huntsville entrepreneurs who wanted to build magnificent tall buildings faced no such obstacles. Deco style building, built in 1926-28 and opened in December 1928. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The twelve-story building was designed by R. H. Hunt Company and stands at 135 feet tall. Originally planned to be eleven floors, the twelfth floor was added when the building was nearing completion.

The Times owner, J. Emory Pierce, ordered a floor added when it was announced that the Russel Erskine Hotel would have twelve floors. Since the elevators had already been installed to 11 floors, a staircase was added

Russel Erskine Hotel

Gothic Revival Central Arch at entry of the Terry Hutchens Building

Exuberant after winning World War I, surviving the flu epidemic of 1918-19, and emerging prosperous, the nation and the city celebrated with the unbridled optimism of the era we call “The Roaring Twenties.” In that afterglow, the Terry Hutchens Building was built in 1925 for the Tennessee Valley Bank. It housed the bank and had extra office space for rent to other tenants.

The National Register of Historic Places added the building to its list in 1980. Its architect was J. M McKee. It is listed as seven floors above ground and 89.51 feet tall. Its Gothic Revival appearance is marked by a magnificent central arched entry, but the feature most interesting to children and young people is the series of green terra cotta frogs that sit on the sills on the seventh floor between the windows. for access to the 12th floor. Pierce wanted his office on the top floor, so every day he had to walk up to his office.

The Russel Erskine Hotel, the third of the three skyscrapers built in Huntsville between the World Wars, is in the Classical Revival style. Built in 1928-29, its architect was Joe Holman of the firm Marr and Holman. It stood twelve stories high and was 148 feet tall. It opened January 3, 1930. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Envisioned by Lawrence B. Goldsmith, Sr. as a place to put Huntsville on the map, it was made a reality by a group of local investors he brought together. His financial direction carried it through the Great Depression and beyond, even as the Tennessee Valley Bank in the Terry Hutchens Building one block away shut down in 1933. The hotel remained a center for meetings, events, and special occasions up until it was sold by the original investors for apartments in the 1970s. After the 1929 stock market crash, Studebaker’s financial position became progressively worse, and it went into receivership in 1932. Erskine’s health had declined, he was dismissed from his job, and finding himself deep in debt, he died by his own hand on June 30, 1933. He was brought home for burial and his large tomb on Erskine Circle in Maple Hill

Russel Erskine Monument

Cemetery is impressive, as is the building in downtown that bears his name.

The name of the hotel was chosen to honor Huntsville’s native son, Albert Russel Erskine, a local boy who moved north to South Bend, Indiana and “made good.” Some believed that he might invest in the hotel if he was honored by having the hotel named for him. He was President of the Studebaker Corporation, an automobile manufacturing company, from 1915 until 1933. It is remarkable that these three skyscrapers, symbols of hope, progress, and visions of a bright future, remain today. They have played a large part in Huntsville’s continuing story, reflecting the big dreams and hard work that fueled the city’s progress in days past, just as dreams and hard work fuel progress today. As such, these buildings stand today as an inspiration for the future. n