Herndon Building, Historic office building in Sweet Auburn, United States
The Herndon Building was a three-story, L-shaped brick building on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta's Sweet Auburn Historic District, directly across from the Odd Fellows Building and Auditorium. It was begun in 1924 and finished the following year, and was easily recognized by the large H on its front facade. Its offices housed professionals such as a doctor and a pharmacy.
Construction began in 1924 and was completed the following year, making it a contributing property of the Sweet Auburn Historic District, across Auburn Avenue from the Odd Fellows Building and Auditorium. Vacant and collapsing, it was already under consideration for condemnation when the 2008 Atlanta tornado seriously damaged it, and it was demolished in late April 2008. It was one of three contributing properties tied to the life of Alonzo Herndon, alongside the Atlanta Life Insurance Company Building and the Rucker Building.
The building served as home to several African American organizations, including the NAACP offices, Atlanta Urban League, and the Atlanta School of Social Work during the mid-1920s and early 1930s. These institutions made it a vital center for Black community work and education in the region.
The site is a vacant lot on Auburn Avenue, across from the Odd Fellows Building and Auditorium and northeast of the Butler Street YMCA, which owns the property and has announced no plans for it. The building itself no longer stands, so there is nothing to enter; the address is best viewed from the street while walking the Sweet Auburn Historic District.
The Herndon Building was one of three contributing properties in the Sweet Auburn Historic District tied to the life of Alonzo Herndon, alongside the Atlanta Life Insurance Company Building and the Rucker Building. The Butler Street YMCA, just southwest across Jesse Hill Jr. Drive, owns the vacant site and has announced no plans for it.
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