Carolina Cadillac Company
(ca. 1926)
Built to showcase the Cadillac automobile, the Carolina Cadillac Company building is itself a showcase of architectural creativity.
1310 S Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28203
The Carolina Cadillac Company held the grand opening in its new South Tryon Street building on March 7, 1927. The company, originally located at 520 South Tryon, was the first to build an automobile showroom on the outskirts of the city’s central business district. The unveiling of the new showroom was planned to showcase the nationwide introduction of the LaSalle, Cadillac’s latest model. The presentation of the new building and Cadillac occurred just months before the prosperity of the 1920s ended and the nation spiraled into the Great Depression.
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Charlotte’s earliest automobile dealer appeared in 1903. By 1925, there were twenty-five automobile dealers in the city. In 1906, there were only 76 registered cars in Charlotte. That number jumped to 22,159 by 1925. Prior to Charlotte’s suburban post-World War II expansion, the central business district was home to showrooms for a wide variety of auto manufacturers, from the enduring giants Ford and General Motors to long forgotten brands such as Nash, Studebaker, Packard, and Hupmobile.
The extant Carolina Cadillac Company building is located on what was once a residential block of South Tryon Street. The company had been in Charlotte for twelve years, growing steadily from a small Sixth Street office to a larger South Tryon location before construction of this impressive edifice. Although a limited number of other dealers would also move out of the business district by 1931, there was no ensuing trend for car lots to locate to the farther reaches of town until the 1960s. Built at an estimated cost of $53,000, the Carolina Cadillac Company’s new building – making elaborate use of concrete construction with detailed wood and metal decorative elements – featured a showroom specifically designed by prominent local architect Marion R. Marsh (1893-1977) to highlight the automobiles preferred by the upper middle classes.
A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Marsh came to Charlotte in 1916 as chief draftsman for the architectural firm of James M. McMichael (1870-1944). Six years later, Marsh opened his own architectural and engineering firm in Charlotte that he led until his 1964 retirement. During his nearly fifty-year career, Marsh designed a range of buildings – from residences and theaters to Masonic lodges and chemical plants (including in Central and South America) – in a variety of styles and locales. His notable designs in Charlotte included the Builders Building, the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, Fire Station #2, and Eastover Elementary School. He also designed the World War II Morris Field Army Air Base (later the site for Charlotte Douglas Airport) and was the first Charlotte architect to design a local apartment building with an electric elevator.
The Great Depression adversely affected the sale of luxury goods, and the Carolina Cadillac Company suffered as a consequence. After the company vacated the building in 1934, it was occupied by a series of auto dealers through the late 1940s. Subsequent commercial tenants included a mill machinery distributor, an electrical supply company, and a floral supply company.