The Masonic Temple—Watts, Ritter, Wholesale Drygoods Company Building in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...

, which has also been historically known as Watts, Ritter Wholesale Drygoods Company Building and more recently known as River Tower, is a commercial building. It is located at 1108 Third Avenue, in Huntington,

Cabell County, West Virginia Cabell County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,350, making it West Virginia's fourth most-populous county. Its county seat is Huntington. The county was organized in 1809 and ...

. It was built between 1914 and 1922 as a five-story brick building. The building is constructed of steel-reinforced concrete with yellow and orange brick facing and

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

trim, with an additional two stories added in 1926. It originally housed a large wholesale business with a retail store on the first floor. The Watts, Ritter Wholesale Drygoods Company occupied the building until the firm's closing in 1959. The building was listed in 1993 on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as "Masonic Temple--Watts, Ritter, Wholesale Drygoods Company Building".

References

Masonic buildings in West Virginia Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Buildings and structures in Huntington, West Virginia Buildings designated early commercial in the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Cabell County, West Virginia 1922 establishments in West Virginia Commercial buildings completed in 1922 {{CabellCountyWV-NRHP-stub

See also

References