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Texas: East, North Central, Panhandle and South Plains and West » North Central Texas » Stamford to Ballinger » Abilene (Taylor County) » Alexander Building

Alexander Building

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1927, David S. Castle Co. 102–104 Pine St.

David S. Castle, who practiced in Abilene from 1914 to 1956, dominated the architectural scene not just in Abilene, but throughout the Plains and Panhandle regions. His seven-story Alexander Building was the first “skyscraper” in Abilene. The Alexander is classically ordered in three parts with a tall one-story limestone base, five stories of buff brick with unframed windows, and a stone-clad cornice. The wall surfaces are smooth, without pilasters, and ornamental detailing in the stone at the first and seventh floors has a Prairie Style flavor evident in other Castle works. Physician James M. Alexander settled in Abilene in 1889 at age twenty-two and established the Alexander Sanitarium (no longer extant), the first hospital between Fort Worth and El Paso. His prominence attracted professionals such as physicians and attorneys to his building.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

The Grace Museum (Grace Hotel)
Abilene Chamber of Commerce (Windsor Hotel)
Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau (Texas and Pacific Railway Passenger Station)
Under One Roof (Minter Dry Goods Store)
Elks Art Center (Elks Building)

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Alexander Building", [Abilene, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-02-SB15.

Print Source

Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: East, North Central, Panhandle and South Plains, and West, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019, 304-304.

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