When built, this sixteen-story zigzag Moderne building was exceeded in height statewide only by the Tower (JM29) and Merchants Bank buildings (see JM29) in Jackson. Marshall, Kutchen, and Lewis Threefoot inherited this property from their German-Jewish immigrant father, who had Americanized his surname, Dreyfuss ( drei, meaning three, and fuss, foot). Unfortunately, they chose the wrong time to develop so much real estate and lost the property in the Great Depression. Their building looms over Meridian from a spot near the angled meeting of the two downtown street grids. Above a granite wainscot, the first two stories feature faceted vertical piers and spandrels and cream-colored terra-cotta and polychrome ornamental panels over the entrance. The upper floors are faced in rough-textured, dark brown brick, with a row of polychrome terra-cotta panels above the tenth floor, and are capped by terra-cotta ornament in vivid hues of orange, blue, and green. The Threefoot family relinquished ownership of their building shortly after the stock market crash, but the tower remained occupied for fifty years. The building is being renovated as the Courtyard by Marriot/Threefoot hotel.
Lindsley’s associate Frank Fort grew up in Meridian, studied architecture at Georgia Tech, and apprenticed with McKim, Mead and White of New York City before returning to Meridian in 1929.