Hurt Building

Description

The Hurt Building is an 18-story building located at 50 Hurt Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia with a unique triangular shape. One of the nation’s earliest skyscrapers, the Hurt Building was built between 1913 and 1926, and was the initial home for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. It was renovated in 1985. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.HistoryConceptThe eponymous building was conceived and developed by Joel Hurt, a prominent Atlanta businessman and prolific developer. Hurt had already built the city's first skyscraper, the original Equitable Building, nearly two decades before. He was part owner of Atlanta and Edgewood Street Railroad, the city's first electric streetcar, which connected the city center to the Inman Park residential area he developed. He also co-founded the Trust Company of Georgia (an early predecessor of what is now Suntrust) and was its president for nine years starting in 1895. Moreover, Hurt married into the Woodruff family, which would eventually control both the Trust Company of Georgia and The Coca-Cola Company.Hurt made preliminary drawings, which for several years, before choosing well-known New York architect J.E.R. Carpenter to complete the design. Though Carpenter was based in New York by then, he was born and raised outside of Nashville, Tennessee.