Augusta Cotton Exchange Building
- Address: 32 8th St
- Vicinity: Reynolds St
- Neighborhood of Downtown, Augusta in Augusta, GA
The Augusta Cotton Exchange Building was constructed in the mid-1880s at the height of both the production and trade of cotton in Augusta. The ornate cast-iron entrance elements underneath the projecting round corner turret complement the vigorous brick and stone details of this significant High Victorian building. The local foundry of Charles F Lombard cast the iron columns for the entrance in 1886. Both Charles and his brother George R. Lombard had foundries and were well known and respected for the manufacture of ornamental iron.
The building housed offices for the brokers as well as the trading floor, where buyers and sellers closely watched the day-to-day prices of cotton and other commodities. Women were not allowed in the Exchange Building, and it quickly became the Man's get-away, the site of after hours cockfights and Saturday football gatherings. - NPS