ROMBRO BUILDING

ROMBRO BUILDING

ROMBRO BUILDING Alexander Heilner
1881, Jackson C. Gott. 22–24 S. Howard St.

This is among the most highly embellished late-nineteenth-century industrial building in the area, exhibiting the influence of Néo-Grec with its squared geometry, robust fluted columns, and bold incised floral motif details. Nearly every inch of the building not consumed by floor-to-ceiling sash windows is represented by ornamental brick and terra-cotta and a decorative cast-iron storefront manufactured by the Variety Iron Works of Baltimore. Within its brick framework appear a tripartite arrangement of windows separated by slender Corinthian columns in contrasting stone. Although built for the Johnson Brothers, investment bankers, it is named for long-time owner-occupant Morris Rombro, whose name appears in the upper parapet. Rombro’s shirt-making manufactory operated here from 1919 until 1958. As with many such industrial buildings, it has been adapted for reuse as apartments.

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