Large Former Department Store Complex in Dallas TX

Sanger Brothers Complex, Dallas Texas

Date added: February 13, 2025

Security Mortgage and Trust Building, Southwest (1975)

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The block in downtown Dallas bounded by Elm Street on the north, Lamar Street on the Bast, Main Street on the south, and Austin Street on the west, contains four of the most significant buildings in the city. Examples of the High Victorian Italianate, Romanesque Revival, and Commercial-Sullivanesque styles are to be found on this block.

The oldest building in the complex, located in the center of the block facing north on Elm Street, was built in 1884. Five stories in height, the building is a masonry structure with load-bearing walls. As was typical of the period, a cast iron storefront at the street level supports the masonry edifice above. An equally typical feature is the High Victorian Italianate-influence in the architectural, motifs of its facade. The style was not an ecclesiastical or a governmental style, but rather a domestic and commercial one.

A striking contrast exists between the High Victorian Italianate style of the older building and the Richardsonian Romanesque of the adjacent structure. The Sanger Building was constructed circa 1889 and occupies the southeast corner of Elm and Austin Streets. Built for one of the earliest merchandising firms in Dallas, Sanger Brothers Dry Goods, the structure represented an attempt to rival the style in Chicago in the late 1880's. A most significant achievement in the building construction industry had been introduced during this time: the-steel skeleton framing system. The merchants of Dallas, wanting to build up the frontier city, were quick to try the new system. The Sanger Brothers store met with such success that it eventually required all of the space on the block.

On the adjacent corner at the intersection of Austin Street with Main Street is the Security Mortgage and Trust Company Building. Originally six stories in height, the building represents the finest existing commercial example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style in Dallas. Built circa 1888 in the heart of the city, the Security Mortgage and Trust Company occupied the building only a short while, for around 1895 Sanger Brothers purchased the property and added two floors.

The eastern half of block number 32 was originally occupied by the first Sanger Brothers Dry Goods store. Bounded by Main, Lamar, and Elm Streets, the structure was two stories in height with a cast iron storefront. The existing eight-story building was built in 1910. Designed by the local firm of Lang and Witchell, the expression of its steel skeletal frame is sophisticated compared with the Romantic ideals expressed in the other three buildings. Commercial-Sullivanesque in style, it represents the best example of the idiom in Dallas.

Sanger Brothers moved in 1966 from the old structures into their new store located several blocks up Main Street. Unfortunately, the decorative cornice that capped the Commercial-Sullivanesque building was removed when El Centro College bought the complex from Sanger Brothers. The first community college in Dallas, El Centro currently uses this building for classroom space. However, the other three buildings are currently scheduled for demolition with plans for using the space they occupy for an open courtyard. Local preservationists have organized a campaign to save the threatened buildings and adaptively reuse them. One of the many points the group is using to convince the college board not to destroy the buildings is that they represent three of only five remaining 19^th century buildings in downtown Dallas.

Site Description

The Sanger Brothers complex in downtown Dallas is a block of four buildings which represent two distinct stages in the development of the Chicago School of Design. The structures date from 1884 through 1910 and represent four distinct stylistic idioms: High Victorian Italianate, Richardsonian Romanesque, and a unique combination of the Commercial Style and Sullivanesque. Located in what was once the hub of downtown Dallas, the block is bounded by Elm on the North, Lamar on the East, Main on the South, and Austin on the West. Several blocks to the southeast is the Dallas County Courthouse.

The oldest existing structure on the property dated from 1884. Occupying the center of the block facing North on Elm Street, the building exemplifies the High Victorian Italianate style. A cast iron storefront occupies the street level. Six bays in an "AABBAA" configuration are defined by simple pilasters between plate glass windows. The same bay configuration is repeated on each of the other four floors of the North facade.

Masonry is used in lieu of cast iron for the upper four floors with load-bearing walls comprising the structural system. A simplified entablature defines the floor level between each row of windows. Double hung with one light per sash, the windows are capped by an architrave molding. A segmental-pediment effect is created by arching the architrave molding over the two center windows on the second, third, and fourth floors. Stylistic motifs in the form of fleur-de-lis, fans, and keystones grace the pilasters between the windows. The date 1884 embellishes the keystone over the pediment on the third floor. A simple entablature with an extended frieze and cornice dentils caps the composition.

The Sanger Building located adjacent to the High Victorian Italianate commercial structure occupies the Southeast corner at the intersection of Elm at Austin Streets. Romanesque in character, the building could best be described as Romanesque Commercial. Surface treatment is primarily red brick with the exception of rusticated sandstone on the entrance portal. The overall massive form of the-building is enhanced by the depth of the window reveals, the rounded arches, and the extended entablature. The entrance on the Northwest corner gives the illusion of being enclosed in a tower by the extension of the parapet wall from the cornice above the fifth floor with bartizans on its corners and a corbel table between. Windows are large and separated by colonettes.

The best example of the commercial Richardsonian Romanesque style in Dallas is the Security Mortgage and Trust Company Building. Located on the Northeast corner at the intersection of Austin with Main Street, the building was constructed circa 1888. Surface treatment of red rusticated sandstone on the street level supports the red brick walls of the five floors above. A renovation around the turn of the century resulted in the addition of two more floors. It is unfortunate that such a modification was made since the continuity of forms and their original entablature were destroyed in the process. However, such features as two-story octagonal bays projecting from the three-story rounded arched openings were unusual for Dallas at the time. Metal spandrels with decorative swirl motifs further embellish the bays.

The dominant feature of the building is the four-story oriel window that projects from the southwest corner beginning at the second floor level. Such stylistic motifs as festoons and rosettes grace the spandrels between the windows. The detailing of the base and cornice of the oriel are among the finest decorative work on the building.

The entire eastern half of the block bounded by Main, Lamar, and Elm Streets is occupied by the 1910 Commercial Style Sullivanesque department store building. Designed by the local firm of Lang and Witchell, the eight-story building is well-proportioned. A fairly even balance is maintained between the verticality of the piers and the horizontality of the spandrels through the use of large windows. Tripartite in configuration, the windows fill the structural void and handsomely express the skeleton steel frame. Ornamentation on the piers and entablature is Sullivanesque in character, incorporating naturalistic and stylized foliage with a variety of linear interlaces and other repeating motifs. As with so many buildings of this period, the cornice which capped the building was removed in the interests of safety.