Wachovia Building, Modern skyscraper in Mobile, United States
The Waterman–Smith Building is a 16-story, 230-foot (70 m) early modern office high-rise at Mobile, Alabama, built in 1947 by the Waterman Steamship Corporation on the site of the seven-story Bienville Hotel. It is the seventh-tallest building in Mobile.
This structure was built in 1947 as the first high-rise developed in Mobile following the economic slowdown of the 1930s. It represented a turning point in the city's growth after a period without major construction projects.
The Waterman Globe was a 12-foot (4 m) sphere made by Rand McNally, showing the world with the political boundaries of the 1940s. It drew visitors to the building until it was removed and dismantled in 1973, then restored and moved to the University of South Alabama's Mitchell Center in 1999.
The building stands at the corner of North Water Street and St. Francis Street in downtown Mobile, near the Mobile River waterfront. It is an office tower, so upper floors are not open to visitors; the 1947 exterior and its 16-story massing can be seen from the surrounding streets. The site previously held the seven-story Bienville Hotel.
The Waterman Globe, a 12-foot (4 m) sphere made by Rand McNally showing the world's 1940s political boundaries, stood inside the building as a local attraction until it was removed and dismantled in 1973. It was later restored and moved to the University of South Alabama's Mitchell Center in 1999.
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