Historic Structure Report: 503 Auburn Avenue, NE, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, Atlanta, Georgia
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park Atlanta, Georgia 503 Auburn Avenue, NE Historic Structure Report September 2019 Cultural Resources, Partnerships and Science Division Southeast Region 503 Auburn Avenue, NE Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park Atlanta, Georgia Historic Structure Report September 2019 Prepared by: Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2390 Clinton Street Buffalo, New York 14227-1735 Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. 330 Pfingsten Road Northbrook, Illinois 60062 WFT Architects, PA 770 North State Street Jackson, Mississippi 39202 Prepared for: National Park Service Southeast Regional Office 100 Alabama Street SW Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Cultural Resources, Partnerships and Science Division Southeast Regional Office National Park Service 100 Alabama Street, SW Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (404) 507-5787 About the front cover: View of the 503 Auburn Avenue, NE, looking south/southeast, April 2019. This manuscript has been authored by Panamerican Consultants, Inc., with consultants Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., and WFT Architects, P.A., under Contract Number P16PC00097 with the National Park Service. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. 503 Auburn Avenue, NE Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park Atlanta, Georgia Historic Structure Report Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................................ vii Project Team ............................................................................................................................................................. xii Foreword .................................................................................................................................................................. xiii Management Summary Historical Data ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 Treatment and Use ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Administrative Data ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Project Scope and Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 6 Developmental History Historical Background and Context ........................................................................................................................... 9 African Americans in Nineteenth-Century Atlanta ................................................................................................... 9 Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park ..................................................................................................... 13 503 Auburn Avenue (LCS #090012) ......................................................................................................................... 15 Timeline 503 Auburn Avenue .................................................................................................................................. 26 Physical Description and Condition Assessment Site ............................................................................................................................................................................. 29 House ........................................................................................................................................................................ 31 Exterior Description .................................................................................................................................................. 33 Condition Assessment ....................................................................................................................................... 45 Interior Description .................................................................................................................................................. 52 Condition Assessment ........................................................................................................................................ 64 Structural System ...................................................................................................................................................... 66 Condition Assessment ....................................................................................................................................... 69 Mechanical and Plumbing Systems .......................................................................................................................... 69 Condition Assessment ....................................................................................................................................... 76 Significance and Integrity National Register of Historic Places ......................................................................................................................... 79 Significance Criteria ........................................................................................................................................... 79 National Register Status of 503 Auburn Avenue, NE ............................................................................................. 80 Period of Significance ........................................................................................................................................ 83 Character-Defining Features .................................................................................................................................... 83 Assessment of Integrity ............................................................................................................................................ 84 Treatment and Use Requirements for Treatment and Use ..................................................................................................................... 87 Laws, Regulations, and Functional Requirements ........................................................................................... 87 Alternates for Treatment and Use ........................................................................................................................... 89 Ultimate Treatment and Use .................................................................................................................................... 90 Guidelines for Treatment .................................................................................................................................. 90 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................................... 91 Exterior ............................................................................................................................................................... 91 Interior ............................................................................................................................................................... 92 Structural ........................................................................................................................................................... 93 Mechanical and Electrical Systems .................................................................................................................... 93 National Park Service v Current and forthcoming work ........................................................................................................................ 93 Recommendations for Further Research ................................................................................................................. 93 Resilience to Natural Hazards ........................................................................................................................... 94 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................. 97 Appendices Appendix A: Measured Drawings vi Historic Structure Report: Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, 503 Auburn Avenue, NE List of Figures Management Summary 1 Map of Georgia showing location of Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park (black star) ..................... 7 2 Aerial photograph of Atlanta show location of Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park ....................... 8 3 Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park showing the location of 503 Auburn Avenue, NE .................... 8 Developmental History 4 503 Auburn Avenue, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, Atlanta, Georgia (circa 1895) .............. 15 5 535 Auburn Avenue (circa 1895) has the same architectural plan and many of the same exterior decorative details of 503 Auburn Avenue ............................................................................................................