Columbus buildings join historic register

1238 Professional Building, Coca-Cola Bottling make list.

There’s no shortage of beautiful, charming buildings in Columbus — and it looks like two more historic buildings have been recognized as important to the state’s heritage.

The 1238 Professional Building and the Columbus Coca-Cola Bottling Co. were added to the state’s historic register May 13 after a vote by the Georgia National Register Review Board.

Before being approved to the state register, the review board evaluates all nominations to ensure they fall in line with the Historic Preservation Division’s (HPD) mission, which is to promote the preservation and use of historic places for a better Georgia.

The division hopes that these newly approved properties will show the importance and impact these historic buildings have on our lives.

Here’s what to know about the two properties:

1238 Professional Building

This property at 1238 Second Ave. was designed by local architect Wilbur D. Talley, and the building follows an “international style,” most notably used in the 20th century.

Buildings at this time were limited to brick, concrete, steel, glass and marble, and Talley put all of the materials to good use.

“On the lower level, cast stone blocks at the north and south corners of the facade are topped by a cast stone band that spans the facade’s full width, creating a frame for the steel windows, a half wall of dark green marble and the recessed double-door entrance,” according to Ken Henson, who sponsored the nomination. “Further elements of International Style include the use of reinforced concrete for floors, structural steel columns to support the second floor and a flat roof without eaves.”

The windows and office doors still have the original glass.

As one of only four buildings Talley designed in that period, the building “functions as an important entry on the architectural timeline that defines the evolution of building styles in Columbus,” Henson added.

The entire building comprised 28 office spaces when it was finished in 1950.

Since then, the two-story building has served its purpose as an office building for the residents of Columbus.

While the first floor remains an office space, a recent rehabilitation project converted the second floor into apartments.

Columbus Coca-Cola Bottling Co.

This property at 1147 Sixth Ave. was one of the earliest Coca-Cola bottling franchises, and it was owned by Columbus Roberts Sr. in 1902.

He began production in the back of a downtown drugstore and distributed bottles in a single muledrawn wagon.

After almost doubling the required syrup quota in its first year (making more than 2,000 gallons of syrup needed for Coca-Cola), Roberts decided it was time to move.

In 1905, Roberts moved into a large brick building on Sixth Avenue.

By 1932, this location was producing 86 bottles of Coca-Cola per minute.

This building now serves as an iconic, nostalgic piece of American history.

According to Constance L. Hays in “The Real Thing, Truth and Power at the Coca-Cola Company,” bottlers, like the Columbus operation, were “as indigenous to the American scene as the post office or the fire department.”

Elsewhere in Georgia

Other properties approved and added to the state register:

■ Rueben Gay Place in the Fayetteville vicinity

■ Dixie Cotton Mills and Mill Village Historic District in LaGrange

■ Clarence and Louise Golden Williams House in Savannah

■ Magnolia Park Historic District in Savannah

MIKE HASKEY/(COLUMBUS) LEDGER-ENQUIRER The Columbus Coca-Cola Bottling Co. property was one of the earliest Coca-Cola bottling franchises, and it was owned by Columbus Roberts Sr. In 1905, Roberts moved into this large brick building on Sixth Avenue. This building now serves as an iconic, nostalgic piece of American history.