This Second Renaissance Revival landmark was designed for Jacob Rosenberg by local architect J. T. Murphy. It was modeled after the Neel Reid-designed Michael Brothers Department Store in Athens. Rosenberg originally opened a store in Troy, Alabama, with his brother, and then expanded to Albany in 1896. He married a local girl, Annie Cohn, and was soon the busiest merchant in town. Rosenberg’s was Albany’s finest department store for much of the 20th century, closing the downtown location in 1978 and focusing their business on the local mall.
It is presently home to the Albany Herald and is alternately known as the Herald Building.
National Register of Historic Places
I came across this store in a book about MLK. Apparently, Joseph Rosenberg fought quite hard to keep segregation in his store and throughout Albany, Georgia. It doesn’t seem to get much mention when this business is brought up.
An unfortunate, but sadly, unsurprising part of this story. Even Jewish merchants, who were also the target of racists and the Klan, must have felt a need for conformity in the Jim Crow era. It doesn’t give them a pass, though, and should be noted.