Winter Building

The Winter Building is a historic building in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. The 3-story structure was built as a bank branch with a telegraph office upstairs.^[2]

Winter Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The Winter Building in 2012
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Location	2 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama
Coordinates	32°22′37″N 86°18′31″W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1843 (1843)
Architectural style	Italianate
NRHP reference No.	72000175[1]
Added to NRHP	January 14, 1972

History

The building was erected from 1841 to 1843 for John Gindrat, a cotton broker and banker.^[3] It was inherited by his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Gindrat, and her husband, Joseph S. Winter, in 1854.^[3]

Photograph of Court Street in 1874 with Winter Building on left

During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, the second floor was home to the Southern Telegraph Company.^[3] It was there that LeRoy Pope Walker, the Confederate States Secretary of War, sent a telegram to General P. G. T. Beauregard to advise him to fire on Fort Sumter, and thus start the Battle of Fort Sumter.^[3]

It remained in the same family as late as the 1970s, when it was used for offices and a clothing store.^[3]

Architectural significance

The building was designed in the Italianate architectural style.^[3] It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since January 14, 1972.^[4]