Atlantic Terra Cotta Company:

An Inventory of its Architectural Records and Photographs, 1914-1941

Administrative History of the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company (1908-1943)

During the first quarter of the 20th century the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company was the largest producer of architectural terra cotta in the world. By 1908 the firm operated four plants including Perth Amboy and Rocky Hill, N.J.; Staten Island, N.Y. and Eastpoint, Ga. (near Atlanta). The company maintained branch offices in New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas and Newark, N.J. William H. Wilson presided as company president during peak years of production.

National production of terra cotta quadrupled from 1900 to 1912, and the industry prospered throughout the 1920s. Terra cotta provided the ideal facade for the high rise, metal skeletal, constructed buildings. Atlantic Terra Cotta manufactured products for forty percent of the terra cotta buildings in New York City.

Terra cotta's light weight, ease of production and low maintenance offered greater flexibility in design compared with traditional building materials such as stone and iron. This flexibility allowed company craftsmen to accommodate any style. Craftsmen prepared scale models from architects' drawings. From these they made full scale clay models from which they pulled plaster molds. Then they pressed one and a half inch clay slabs into the plaster molds, separating the clay elements from the molds after they dried. Finally the craftsmen glazed and fired the clay elements to achieve the final product.

Flexibility of the terra cotta medium allowed manufacturers to adapt to changing architectural styles of the 1920s. Contemporary geometric building designs were enhanced by the rich coloring, texture, and patterning of terra cotta products. Machine extrusion techniques mechanized terra cotta manufacture in the late 1920's and allowed for mass production of terra cotta veneers that were both practical and fireproof.

In the early 1930s, both the failure of the economy and new construction technologies contributed to the decline of the terra cotta industry. Architectural design trends at that time stressed economy and utility; and architects preferred more contemporary materials such glass and steel. The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company closed in 1943.

Significant buildings utilizing Atlantic Terra Cotta products include the Flat Iron building at 75 Fifth Avenue in New York (1901), the Woolworth Building in New York which was the world's tallest building from the time of its completion in 1908 until 1930, the Union Trust building in Detroit (1928) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (completed c. 1933).

-Kathy Martinson

Sources

"The Atlantic Terra Cotta Co." Friends of Terra Cotta 1, no. 4 (Fall/Winter 1982-83): p. 4-5.

Tunick, Susan. "A Directory of Significant Terra Cotta Buildings in New York City." SITES 18 (1986): p. 42-58.

Tunick, Susan. "The Story of Terra Cotta." SITES 18 (1986): p. 42-58.

Scope and Content of the collection

Administrative documents, firm brochures, blueprints, periodicals, published material (together measuring.83 linear feet) and 138 photographs document activities of the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company

Almost all of the photographs in the collection document the work of the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company in Texas. The majority are identified by location and building name; some are dated.

Administrative documents consist of a legal job contract form, and a three-page written description of standard specifications for terra cotta manufacture and installation.

The majority of the records in this collection provide a rich visual resource of terra cotta products and their use during the early 1900s. Firm brochures include illustrated catalogs of specific terra cotta items, listing dimensions, colors available, and sometimes prices. Issues of Atlantic Terra Cotta's monthly publication contain mostly full page black and white photographs illustrating terra cotta use. These illustrations are accompanied by captions describing the building's history, design, and construction. Approximately one-third of the periodicals relate to historic terra cotta use in Europe; the remainder highlight the work of Atlantic Terra Cotta.

-Kathy Martinson

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Access is by appointment only to any serious scholar. Rolled materials must be flattened before viewing. A three day advance notice is required to flatten rolled materials. Portions of this collection are not processed and may not be accessible.

Restrictions on Use

Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the owner of the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Alexander Architectural Archive's Use Policy.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Atlantic Terra Cotta Company Architectural records and photographs, 1914-1941, Architectural Terra Cotta, the Alexander Architectural Archive, the General Libraries, the University of Texas at Austin

Processing Information

Materials processed by: Kathy Martinson, October 1992

Other Finding Aids

References to works by or about Atlantic Terra Cotta Company

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.