Kimball House
Encyclopedia
The Kimball House was the name of two historical hotels in Atlanta, Georgia
. Both were constructed on an entire city block
at the south-southeast corner of Five Points
, bounded by Whitehall Street (now part of Peachtree Street
), Decatur
Street, Pryor Street, and Wall Street.
, Hanniball Kimball
purchased a lot near the Union Depot where the Atlanta Hotel
had been before being burned in 1864 during the American Civil War
. He gathered the financing for the endeavor through a confusing (and later a scandalous) combination of bonds, mortgages and subscriptions.. The original estimate for the hotel was $250,000, though it eventually cost $650,000, 1/15th the total assessed value of Atlanta real estate at the time. The unusual funding scheme resulted in Kimball filing for bankruptcy
and losing control of the building by the next year.
Kimball hired William Parkins as the architect while Peck served as the construction manager for the project., Construction began immediately on March 28, 1870, the day after Kimball received his lease from King. The lot, primarily owned by Joseph Thompson, was located on Pryor Street between Decatur and Wall. Thompson sold his portion of the land to Kimball through his real estate agent George W. Adair. The rest of the land was leased to Kimball by Richard Peters
and John P. King.
The completed six-story building was built of brick and painted yellow with brown trim. It had a four-story open-air lobby filed with plants, flowers, and a 12 feet (3.7 m) fountain. The House also boasted gas-light chandeliers, a central heating plant, a laundry, billiard hall, and 500 hotel rooms.. It also had sixteen stores. It was the first building in Atlanta to have elevator
s and central heating
.
made the Kimball house his second home in Atlanta. The hotel showcased famous entertainers of the day including General Tom Thumb
and Edwin Booth
, brother of John Wilkes Booth
.
In 1892, the Kimball House was the center of excitement surrounding the first University of Georgia vs. Auburn
football game held on February 20, 1892. Both teams arrived in Atlanta via the railroad, the Georgia team riding on the Georgia Special, and immediately headed to the Kimball House where tickets were being sold for 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children.
in the southwest corner of the huge building. The fire spread through the elevator shafts and quickly got out of control. The Atlanta Fire Department was unable to do much because of difficulty in reaching the site, and poor water pressure from the city cistern
s; by 8:00 a.m., the building was destroyed. No lives were lost.
, Henry W. Grady
, Richard Peters
and others began fund-raising for rebuilding the hotel. They soon called on Kimball to lead the effort, even though he then resided in Chicago
and had had no dealings with the property since he left town ten years before.
Built on the same site, but much larger than its predecessor, it had seven floor
s with 31 store
s, 22 public rooms, and 357 hotel room
s.
The structure was built to be completely fireproof
, and officially opened for business on New Year's Day
1885.
in 1893, Inman gave the Kimball as a wedding gift to the couple.
's first solo recording session, to be released as the "Blue Grass Boys", was recorded in a temporary recording studio
in the Kimball House on October 7, 1940.
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. Both were constructed on an entire city block
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
at the south-southeast corner of Five Points
Five Points (Atlanta)
Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the primary reference for the downtown area. The name refers to the convergence of Marietta Street, Edgewood Avenue, Decatur Street, and two legs of Peachtree Street Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the...
, bounded by Whitehall Street (now part of Peachtree Street
Peachtree Street
Peachtree Street is the main street of Atlanta. The city grew up around the street, and many of its historical and municipal buildings are or were located along it...
), Decatur
Decatur, Georgia
Decatur is a city in, and county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. With a population of 19,335 in the 2010 census, the city is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple zip codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear the Decatur name...
Street, Pryor Street, and Wall Street.
First Kimball House
Design and construction
In 1870 on a recommendation of building contractor John C. PeckJohn C. Peck
John C. Peck was a businessman and building contractor from Atlanta, GA. Peck is known for constructing some of Atlanta's most notable early buildings including the Kimball House hotels...
, Hanniball Kimball
Hanniball Kimball
Hannibal Ingalls Kimball was an American entrepreneur and important businessman in post-war Atlanta, Georgia.-Early years:Born in Oxford County, Maine to family of Methodist wheel-wrights...
purchased a lot near the Union Depot where the Atlanta Hotel
Atlanta Hotel
The Atlanta Hotel also known as Thompson's Hotel, was one of the original hotels in antebellum Atlanta, Georgia. It stood at the northwest side of State Square, prewar Atlanta's central square, on the northwest side of Pryor Street between Decatur Street and what is now Wall Street . The hotel was...
had been before being burned in 1864 during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He gathered the financing for the endeavor through a confusing (and later a scandalous) combination of bonds, mortgages and subscriptions.. The original estimate for the hotel was $250,000, though it eventually cost $650,000, 1/15th the total assessed value of Atlanta real estate at the time. The unusual funding scheme resulted in Kimball filing for bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and losing control of the building by the next year.
Kimball hired William Parkins as the architect while Peck served as the construction manager for the project., Construction began immediately on March 28, 1870, the day after Kimball received his lease from King. The lot, primarily owned by Joseph Thompson, was located on Pryor Street between Decatur and Wall. Thompson sold his portion of the land to Kimball through his real estate agent George W. Adair. The rest of the land was leased to Kimball by Richard Peters
Richard Peters (Atlanta)
Richard Peters was an American railroad man and a founder of Atlanta.Grandson of Judge Richard Peters, Jr...
and John P. King.
Opening
Kimball began construction, promising to have the hotel complete by October 1870. True to his word, Kimball hosted a dinner to celebrate the opening of the hotel on October 17 that year, although the structure was only two-thirds complete, and parts of the interior work would take the better part of a decade to be finished.The completed six-story building was built of brick and painted yellow with brown trim. It had a four-story open-air lobby filed with plants, flowers, and a 12 feet (3.7 m) fountain. The House also boasted gas-light chandeliers, a central heating plant, a laundry, billiard hall, and 500 hotel rooms.. It also had sixteen stores. It was the first building in Atlanta to have elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s and central heating
Central heating
A central heating system provides warmth to the whole interior of a building from one point to multiple rooms. When combined with other systems in order to control the building climate, the whole system may be a HVAC system.Central heating differs from local heating in that the heat generation...
.
Role in post-Civil War Atlanta
In many ways it was the public face of Reconstruction-era Atlanta, housing presidents and railroad executives while hosting political meetings and business meetings. Many important citizens lived their adult bachelorhoods in its rooms. Robert ToombsRobert Toombs
Robert Augustus Toombs was an American political leader, United States Senator from Georgia, 1st Secretary of State of the Confederacy, and a Confederate general in the Civil War.-Early life:...
made the Kimball house his second home in Atlanta. The hotel showcased famous entertainers of the day including General Tom Thumb
General Tom Thumb
General Tom Thumb was the stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton , a dwarf who achieved great fame under circus pioneer P.T. Barnum.-Early life:...
and Edwin Booth
Edwin Booth
Edwin Thomas Booth was a famous 19th century American actor who toured throughout America and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869 he founded Booth's Theatre in New York, a spectacular theatre that was quite modern for its time...
, brother of John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
.
In 1892, the Kimball House was the center of excitement surrounding the first University of Georgia vs. Auburn
Deep South's Oldest Rivalry
The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played by the Auburn Tigers football team of Auburn University and the Georgia Bulldogs football team of the University of Georgia...
football game held on February 20, 1892. Both teams arrived in Atlanta via the railroad, the Georgia team riding on the Georgia Special, and immediately headed to the Kimball House where tickets were being sold for 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children.
1883 fire and destruction of the Kimball House
At 4:30 a.m. on August 12, 1883, a careless cigar-smoking lemon dealer began a fireStructure fire
A structure fire is a fire involving the structural components of various residential buildings ranging from single-family detached homes and townhouses to apartments and tower blocks, or various commercial buildings ranging from offices to shopping malls...
in the southwest corner of the huge building. The fire spread through the elevator shafts and quickly got out of control. The Atlanta Fire Department was unable to do much because of difficulty in reaching the site, and poor water pressure from the city cistern
Cistern
A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...
s; by 8:00 a.m., the building was destroyed. No lives were lost.
Design and construction
Citing a loss of business and prestige to the city, George AdairGeorge Adair
George Washington Adair was an important real-estate developer in post Civil War Atlanta.-Early life:...
, Henry W. Grady
Henry W. Grady
Henry Woodfin Grady was a journalist and orator who helped reintegrate the states of the former Confederacy into the Union after the American Civil War....
, Richard Peters
Richard Peters (Atlanta)
Richard Peters was an American railroad man and a founder of Atlanta.Grandson of Judge Richard Peters, Jr...
and others began fund-raising for rebuilding the hotel. They soon called on Kimball to lead the effort, even though he then resided in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and had had no dealings with the property since he left town ten years before.
Built on the same site, but much larger than its predecessor, it had seven floor
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
s with 31 store
Store
Store may refer to:*a retail store*a place where things are stored, e.g. a ship's paint store*expendables released from an aircraft, such as ordnance or countermeasures*Štore, a town and a municipality in eastern Slovenia...
s, 22 public rooms, and 357 hotel room
Hotel Room
Hotel Room is a three episode 1993 HBO television series produced by David Lynch . Each drama takes place in the same New York City hotel room at different times .Barry Gifford wrote, and David Lynch directed, the first and third episodes; Jay McInerney wrote, and James Signorelli...
s.
The structure was built to be completely fireproof
Fireproof
-Track List for Original 2002 Release:# "Fireproof" – 3:46# "Just 2 Get By" – 4:17# "Echelon" – 3:25# "Stay Up" – 3:40# "Behind Closed Doors" – 2:55# "Epidemic" – 3:14# "Hindsight" – 2:57# "Light at My Feet" – 3:28# "A Shame" – 3:17...
, and officially opened for business on New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
1885.
Hugh T. Inman
When owner Hugh T. Inman's daughter married banker John W. GrantJohn W. Grant
John W. Grant was a member of the Georgia School of Technology board of trustees and a well-known Atlanta merchant sometime around the 1880s.He was the grandson of John T. Grant and the son of William D...
in 1893, Inman gave the Kimball as a wedding gift to the couple.
Later years
Bill MonroeBill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
's first solo recording session, to be released as the "Blue Grass Boys", was recorded in a temporary recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in the Kimball House on October 7, 1940.
Destruction
It was razed in 1959, the first of many historic buildings demolished in Atlanta during the 1960s and '70s, and replaced by a parking deck which still stands.External links
- Growth and Preservation in Atlanta - United States National Park ServiceNational Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...