Lost Atlanta -- John Silvey's Great Mercantile House

On the eve of the Great Depression of 1893, there was no real hint of the economic chaos to come. Architects and wealthy Atlantans were building bigger and better homes, businesses, factories, schools and churches. One of the most significant new buildings was the one for John Silvey on Decatur Street designed by Godfrey Norrman.

John Silvey had been in Atlanta since 1847 with the exception of several years in the gold fields of California. All his life, even on the west coast, had been spent in the retail trade. By the 1880s, he was one of Atlanta's top fifteen wealthiest individuals and a founder, along with Norrman, of the Atlanta Musical Association. By 1892 he had decided to construct a new high-rise tower to house his dry goods emporium. The Silvey Building cost a whopping $75,000 and was the tallest building in Atlanta for some years, exceeding the height of the new Equitable Building by six feet on its Decatur Street frontage. (1)

With matching fronts on both Decatur Street and Edgewood Avenue, the nine story structure had a steel frame, two electric elevators to whisk shoppers to the various departments, iron window frames, a flat asphalt roof, and exterior walls of granite, brick and terracotta. By the summer of 1893, crowds turned out to marvel at the new high-rise as the granite blocks were fitted to the walls. The striking cream color store was sheathed in Georgia granite and buff, Roman [long, narrow] brick. Terracotta matching the brick filled the spandrels between the vertically grouped windows on the third through the sixth floors, which were accented by ogee arches. The latter gave the building a French Renaissance feel, while the narrow openings and corbeled cornice of the upper floors looked almost medieval in their severity. The first floor contained heavy piers of rusticated granite. (2)

With its light coloring and strong verticality, the Silvey Building formed a striking contrast to its neighbors of dark red brick and horizontal lines. It was also highly unusual for its extensive use of Roman Brick, described in one report as the only use of such building material south of Baltimore. Norrman was so pleased with his work here that he submitted his design for publication in the national journal, American Architect and Building News, and used it as an example of his best works for his application to be a member of the American Institute of Architects. (3)

The Silvey Building was demolished in the 1930s.

(1) "Mr. John Silvey," Atlanta Constitution [AC], 5/14/1893, 14; "Organized
Music," AC, 11/15/1885, 8; "Building Notes," Manufacturers Record, 3/31/1893, 173; AC, 9/15/1895, 33; "It Will Cost $75,000," Atlanta Journal, 3/15/1893, 4.

(2) Advertisement for the Silvey Company, AC, 11/29/1904, 8; "Who Will Get It," AC, 6/20/1893, 3; Elizabeth Lyon, Business Buildings In Atlanta: A Study in Urban Growth and Form, unpublished doctoral dissertation at Emory University, 1971, 275.

(3) "Illustrations," American Architect and Building News, Vol. XLI # 925 (9/16/1893), 174 [source of the above illustration]; Norrman's application to join the AIA located in the archives of the AIA and a copy in the possession of the author.