Its design is unique among Marr and Holman's PWA courthouses due to its use of buff-colored glazed brick as the main exterior material and its cruciform plan. Located at the center of the cruciform, in the first floor rotunda, is an inlaid terrazzo map of the country, showing its towns and transportation systems. The rotunda ceiling has coffered panels surrounding a ceiling medallion set within a central concave area. "Zig-zag-influenced angular Art Deco decorative decorative elements," noted architectural historian Trina Binkley, enliven both the exterior and interior, "framing doors, doorways, windows, and at the ceiling line." (7) Plus, the new courthouse did not overwhelm the Public Square; new landscaping helped to highlight the building. A county historian remarked in 1957: "few prettier spots exist in the United States than the lawn about the courthouse, for here are a few of the ancient trees, and many new pecans, maples, locusts, and shrubs which sit of a carpet of green grass with squirrels playing." [Text from C. V. West, The New Deal Landscape of Tennessee (UT Press, 2000)]
U.S Post Office - Ripley
One-story red brick Colonial Revival-styled post office. Works Progress Administration funds were used in 1941 to construct the post office, designed by Louis A. Simon in a Colonial Revival style. A mural, Autumn, produced through the federal artists' program, still decorates the post office interior. Painted by Marguerite Zorach, the mural reflects hunting and nutting in the West Tennessee country.
Wardlaw-Steele House - Ripley
A massive, decorative two-story Classical Revival portico added in the early twentieth century enlivened what had been a typical two-story frame Tennessee I-House initially built in 1842. One of the most striking examples of domestic architecture in the county.
Courthouse Square - Covington
The late nineteenth century Victorian-styled Tipton County Courthouse is surrounded by historic commercial and public buildings from the 1870s to the 1970s. Many buildings have been restored and adapted to new uses, and a recent streetscape project has improved the appearance of this important public space.
Ruffin Theatre - Covington
This deco-styled theater from the 1930s has been restored for community theater, concerts, and other events.
St Matthews Episcopal Church - Covington
This Gothic Revival-styled building from the mid-nineteenth century survived the Civil War to become one of the town’s defining settlement and religious landmarks.
Former Coca-Cola Bottling Plant - Covington
This impressive Art Deco building, built in the 1930s and designed by Memphis architect Everett Woods, has long been a landmark along U.S. Highway 51 in downtown Covington.
Hotel Lindo - Covington
This turn of the century downtown hotel served railroad travelers as Covington expanded its business and commercial district in the twentieth century. Few historic hotels still exist on courthouse squares in Tennessee.
Covington South Main Street Historical District House
Radiating south from the town square, this residential district is truly diverse in its architectural types, including a suburban version of a Louisiana plantation house, Queen Anne homes from the early twentieth century, and red brick bungalows.
Charles B. Simonton House - Covington
Posts
