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S. H. Kress and Company Building

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1938, W. F. Holmes. 210 W. Main St.
  • (Photograph by Ruth Hawkins)
  • Kress Building, Blytheville (Photograph by Ruth Hawkins)

On this commercial street of mostly two-story buildings, the Kress Building stands out for its harmonious design, street-level display windows, and Art Deco detailing. The majority of Kress stores, especially those in small towns, were designed in the company’s architectural department in order to ensure a uniform corporate image. This two-story Kress store has a steel frame and is faced with blond brick and terra-cotta detailing. Dark green terra-cotta is used for the base of the store’s windows and is ivory colored for the window surrounds, with their fluted and stylized shell decoration, and for the geometrically patterned coping along the parapet, where the Kress name is in gold letters. The large plate glass display windows, which originally were shaded by awnings, and the deep-set entrances are characteristic of Kress stores. A feature that made the Kress chain so popular was air-conditioning, and this store was the first retail establishment in Blytheville to have it. The building now accommodates the Delta Gateway Museum.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Cyrus A. Sutherland with Gregory Herman, Claudia Shannon, Jean Sizemore Jeannie M. Whayne and Contributors
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Data

What's Nearby

Historic Blytheville Greyhound Bus Station
Arkansas Aeroplex (Eaker Air Force Base, Blytheville Air Force Base)

Citation

Cyrus A. Sutherland with Gregory Herman, Claudia Shannon, Jean Sizemore Jeannie M. Whayne and Contributors, "S. H. Kress and Company Building", [Blytheville, Arkansas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/AR-01-MS2.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Arkansas

Buildings of Arkansas, Cyrus A. Sutherland and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2018, 232-233.

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