S. H. Kress and Co. Building, Historic department store building in Tampa, Florida.
The S. H. Kress and Co. Building is a four-story 1928 structure at 811 N. Franklin Street, with a second front on Florida Avenue. Architect G.E. Mackey used masonry and terra-cotta ornamentation on both facades, and a suspended bronze marquee marks the entrance. It stands between the former Woolworth and J.J. Newberry stores.
The S. H. Kress and Co. Building was completed in 1928 for the Kress "five and dime" chain, designed by architect G.E. Mackey. It was described as one of the last major commercial structures built in Tampa before the Great Depression. The store closed in 1981 and the building has remained vacant since; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 7, 1983.
The Kress building sits between the former Woolworth and J.J. Newberry stores, a stretch known as the "Kress block." In the 1960s activists held lunch-counter sit-ins and protests at the Woolworth store there against segregated lunch counters in Tampa. A historical marker now commemorates the movement.
The building stands at the corner of Franklin Street and Florida Avenue in downtown Tampa but is currently not open to the public. You can appreciate the architectural details from the street, particularly the decorated facades and bronze marquee that remain visible.
The block around the Kress building is known as the "Kress block" because the former Woolworth and J.J. Newberry stores stood beside it. Civil rights activists held lunch-counter sit-ins and protests at the Woolworth store there in the 1960s against segregated lunch counters, and a historical marker now commemorates the movement.
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