Anderson, Neil P., Building

The Neil P. Anderson Building with its distinctive curved facade reflects a regional expression of the Chicago School commercial style and is a good example of Fort Worth' early 20th century commercial architecture. Designed by Fort Worth's leading architectural firm of Sanguinett and Staats, the Neil P. Anderson Building represents one of the many towering commercial buildings designed by this firm all over the southwest in the early 20th century.In addition, this building played an important role in history of Fort Worth's commerce. Built in 1921 as the headquarters for 22 cotton and grain companies, the Anderson Building exhibits the important contribution of the cotton industry to Fort Worth, a town generally associated with the cattle industry. Sanguinett and Staats were commissioned by Bernie Anderson and Morris Berney to design the building as headquarters for the Neil P. Anderson Cotton Company, while the W. C. Hedrick Construction Company contracted to build the eleven-story structure.When it was completed in 1921, the Anderson Building stood to the southwest of downtown surrounded by churches and homes in a decidedly residential district.Now located just to the east (across Lamar St.) of Burk Burnett Park, the curved facade of the Neil P. Anderson Building forms the gateway for Fort Worth's central business district. Sanguinett, the senior partner of the architectural firm Sanguinett and Staats, earned professional degree at Washington University in St. Louis.He moved to Ft. Worth, first practicing alone, and then joining successively, Sanguinett and Dawson, Haggart and Sanguinett, and Sanguinett and Messer. Carl Staats was a building engineer from New York City, who came to Texas at the age of twenty to join the office of J. Riely Gordoir, in San Antonio. In 1898, he joined Sanguinett in Fort Worth. For well over twenty-five years Sanguinett and Staats were architects and builders of scores of multi-story commercial buildings all over the southwest. They had branch offices in many Texas cities such as San Antonio, Houston, and Wichita Falls.Some o^!?^ best known buildings have included courthouses for Fort Worth, Wichita Galveston. They also designed the Houston City Hall and Dallas Public twenty exchange buildings for the Southwestern Telephone and Telegraph thirty-five schools in North Texas. They designed numerous department . buildings, such as the Amicable Building in Waco (once known as the tallest building in Texas), the First National Bank in Houston, the City National Bank in Shreveport, Louisiana, and the Scarbrough Building in Austin (included in the National Register district, "Sixth Street Historic District," Travis County). The Flatiron Building in Fort Worth (listed on the National Register, 3-31-71) built in 1907 is one of the firm's best known building's in Fort Worth. By 1922 the new building contained 22 cotton and grain companies, as well as office space space for a few other businesses. The Neil P. Anderson Company maintained offices and work space on the 10th and 11th floors and operated successfully from this location until 1939 when the firm suspended operation in buying and selling spot cotton. The company was founded by Neil P. Anderson, a pioneer Ft. Worth businessman who had moved to Ft. Worth in 1878 just after the arrival of the railroad. The boom town's economy at this time was based on the emerging cattle industry and the developing rail center. Although he had been a dry goods merchant in Tennessee, Anderson joined with a partner to found a cotton brokerage business in Ft. Worth. By 1885 Anderson went into business for himself establishing the Neil P. Anderson Cotton Company. By the turn-of-the century Anderson had founded or bought into the Fort Worth Cotton Compress Company, Fort Worth Cotton Oil Company, Trinity Compress Company, Northwestern Compress Company and the Interstate Compress Company in Oklahoma. Anderson had groomed his son, Bernie, and his son-in-law, Morris Berney, to take over operations of the company. Berney Anderson remained active in the cotton business throughout his life, but Morris Berney became more interested in city politics. Berney died in 1948. Anderson's enthusiasm and participation in the cotton business is demonstrated by the number of organizations he headed at the time of his death in 1961. He was president of the Traders Compress Company of Oklahoma and Texas, the Lubbock Compress Company, the Northwestern Compress Company and the Southwestern Compress and Warehouse Association. Previous honors had included president of the Texas Cotton Association, as well as one of the founders of the Oklahoma State Cotton Exchange. In addition, he served as vice-president of the National Cotton Council of America and a director of the National Compress and Cotton Warehouse Association. The Anderson Berney Building Company owned the Neil P. Anderson Building until 1963 when the heirs of the estate sold it to R. G. Hughes. A succession of owners followed until Republic National Life Insurance Company of Dallas acquired the property in 1975. When they announced plans to demolish the building in 1977, a group of private investors, calling themselves 411 Company, Ltd., united to save the threatened building. In July, 1977, the group bought the building and have recently begun rehabilitation.