YEAR BUILT: 1900

HISTORY

The Andre Building is named after R. G. Andre, the building’s original owner and tenant. Andre was a prominent Phoenix entrepreneur when he purchased the land as well as a skilled saddle maker.

R. G. Andre purchased an empty lot at Fourth Street and Mill Avenue in June 1888. He then hired James M. Creighton—a territorial era Arizona architect who designed many notable buildings in Arizona, including the National Register of Historic Places-listed Old Main on the Arizona State University campus—to design buildings for the property.

Originally, Creighton designed a two-story brick building and a one-story wood frame building for the property. However, in 1894, the one-story building was demolished and replaced with another two-story brick building that was conjoined to the two-story brick building.

In 1893, Andre moved from Phoenix to Tempe and partnered with M. Mertz, who specialized in vehicles, in addition to saddles and harnesses. The pair opened Andre & Mertz, a saddle and harness shop. Other businesses that have occupied the space throughout the years include the Sunset Telegraph and Telephone Company and the Wells Fargo Express. The longest commercial tenant was Wickliffe’s Furniture and Undertakers, which resided in the building from 1916 until the 1930s.

In 1899, the building suffered severe fire damage. At the time, the commercial occupants of the building were Andre’s saddle shop, a butcher shop, and a confection shop. The top floor was partially occupied by various local society groups who lost all their paraphernalia in the fire. Additionally, the Sunset Telephone Company, which used the building as its central office, lost its equipment. In 1900, the Andre Building was remodeled and given its current façade.

The Tempe Post Office relocated in 1917 to the Andre Building, where it remained until 1947. During the post office’s tenure in the Andre Building, it had three postmasters: Hugh Laird (1916-1924), Charles Woolf (1924-1926), and Floyd Miller (1926-1957). Hugh Laird was not only the postmaster; he also served as mayor of Tempe for 14 years and he was on City Council for 32 years.

The top floor of the Andre Building functioned as a community meeting space for many different local organizations, lodges, and secret societies. The most important of these groups were the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Good Templers, both of whom are credited with turning Tempe into the first Arizona town to have a Prohibition ordinance years before the nationwide ban. The Masonic Lodge, which Andre and Mertz belonged too, also met in the building for 65 years, from 1918 to 1953. The Congregational Church and the Christian Church also held services in the building before they were able to erect their own churches.

The Andre Building was listed in the National Register of Historical Places on August 10, 1979.

ARCHITECTURE

The Andre Building is a two-story, rectangular brick structure that measure 75 feet wide and 60 feet long. It was built in the Victorian Panel Brick Commercial style with elements of the Neo-Classical architectural style. The first floor was designed for retail use while the second floor was designed for use as a fraternal hall or meeting room.

The exterior of the building is split into three bays. The bays of the first-floor façade consist of cast iron with separate transomed plate glass store fronts or double door entries. Modifications to the west façade have been made over time, especially to the lower façade. These modifications include the application of wood facing, a suspended metal canopy over the sidewalk, and painting. On the northern façade retains much of the design elements as the main façade, but the openings have been infilled.

The second-floor façade was constructed using plain pressed face brick in running bond over double wythe common bond masonry construction. All façade elements are symmetrical with two pairs of pilasters separating four segmental ached windows. The pilasters have corbelled bases and molded brick capitals with connection strong courses between each capital.

The north façade on the second floor is separated into three bays. The outer two bays had two independently situated segmental arched windows, while the center bay has four pilasters that separate three segmental arched windows. The parapet and central pediment are corbelled.

The bottom floor’s interior is divided into three bays with cast iron columns that separate transomed plate glass store fronts or double entry doors. Each bay measures 60 feet by 25 feet and has a storefront and door on the west side.

The top floor is accessible via a stairway on the west that starts on the sidewalk and ends at the upstairs hallway. The hallway runs the length of the building and provides access to three same-sized but different-shaped rooms. Throughout the years the rooms have been partitioned and unpartitioned based on need.

While the building’s interior hasn’t seen consistent, because of careful management and maintenance it still retains many of its original features. The original doors and frames, window frames, and floors are still intact. The first floor still has the walk-in safe from the building’s time as a post office.

Although the building was rebuilt in 1900 after the fire in 1899, it was restored to its historic appearance in 1981 and remains true to Creighton’s original design.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“The Andre Building at Tempe . . .” The Florence Tribune, November 11, 1899.

National Register of Historic Places Nomination. Andre Building. July 1979.

Ryden Architects. “Survey Site No T-241.” In City of Tempe Multiple Resource Area Update: Final Report, Volume Two: Inventory Forms. 1997.