Prominent Structures.
Atlanta has many handsome buildings, notable among which are the State Capitol, the new Court-House, the Carnegie Library, of white marble, the Grand Opera House, the nine great fire-proof office buildings, and the beautiful Piedmont Hotel, which is also a fire-proof structure. The Federal Prison, three miles out, is one of the most important in the United States. There are several other large hotels, notably the Kimball, the Aragon, the Majestic and the Marion.
The value of buildings erected in 1903 was reported by the City Building Inspector as $3,161,445, and the number of permits issued was 3,441. A marked increase in the average value of dwellings was noted. Following is a list of the office-buildings for which Atlanta is famous. They make the heart of Atlanta look like the lower part of Manhattan Island. Each has a steel frame, with non-combustible partitions, every modern convenience, and a costly interior finish of marble and hard-wood. The elevator and janitor service is first-class, and lavatories, barber shops and restaurants are well placed. The ground floor in a majority of these buildings is occupied by banks, whose offices are superbly finished. The population of these palatial hives of industry amounts to several thousand, and the facilities they offer for doing business are unequalled elsewhere in the Southern States.