Fairbanks Company, 202 Division Street, Rome

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA,58-ROM,6-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Fairbanks Company is significant because of its association with and its contribution to the development and growth of manufacturing industry in Rome, Georgia during the Post-World War I era. It is also considered significant for its architecture, as being a representative example of a c. industrial building. This building has been determined eligible for the National Register. FAIRBANKS COMPANY HABS No. GA-2318 (page 2) PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History 1. Date of erection: The present factory building was constructed between the years and 2. Architect/Builder: The architect/builder for the Fairbanks Company building is not known. 3. Original and subsequent owners: The original and present owner of the factory building is the Fairbanks Company. 4.

Alterations and additions: The only alteration to the factory building has been the replacement of some double-hung-sash windows in the west facade with modern jalousie windows. The exact date of this alteration is not known, however, it appears that it was post World War II based on the age of the materials. B. Historical Context: The completion of the Rome and Decatur Railroad in made possible the industrial development of the west Rome area. The Division Street area saw rapid construction, with 20 industrial facilities built there in a three month period in The first industrial concern to occupy the site of the Fairbanks Company was the Standard Scale Company in The scale company later relocated, and in the Fairbanks Company began construction on its facility at the site.

The factory was completed by and housing for workers was built that same year. By numerous residences intended to house factory workers had been built along Division Street around the Fairbanks Company factory, as well as other factories in the area. This pattern of development, manufacturing facilities developing along railroads and factory-built workers' housing constructed around manufacturing facilities, was typical of late nineteenth and early twentieth century industrial development in the South. Also consistent with manufacturing history in the South, was the demise of the importance/viability of the Fairbanks Company after the with the development of the overseas industrial facilities.

The workers' houses have also passed into ownership by nonmanufacturing enterprises, notably real estate management companies, as manufacturing/industrial workers no longer tend to live near their job sites. FAIRBANKS COMPANY HABS No. GA-2318 (page 3) PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement: The Fairbanks Company building is a large, one-storey structure with a parapeted flat roof and load-bearing brick walls. The walls are divided by bays formed by thick, buttressing projections of bricks intended to give the walls and roof extra support. The walls are punctuated by windows and are decorated with a masonry belt course, tiles and coursed stone on the front (west) facade. 1.

Architectural character: The Fairbanks Company building is a typical Post World War I factory building found in southern towns, low and long and made of brick with a flat roof. 2. Condition: The overall condition of the building is fair to good. SOURCES OF INFORMATION Aycock, Roger D. All Roads to Rome. Roswell, GA: Wolfe Associates, Works Progress Administration. Georgia: The Guide to Its Towns and Countryside. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, Sanborn Maps, Rome, Georgia,