Midland Tower

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

Midland Tower is a seven-story commercial building at 223 W. Wall St. in Midland, Midland County, built in 1948 in the Moderne style, also described as Modernistic and Art Deco.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criteria A and C, with local significance in architecture and commerce; its period of significance is 1948, the year the building was completed.

Physical character

The seven-story tower rises from a two-story pedestal base under a flat roof, its walls stone, brick and limestone on foundations of limestone and granite. Pilasters divide stacked window bays, with flattened moldings, low-relief carvings and a limestone base relief of oil rigs and bison. In 1948 the retail doors and the store and second-story windows were replaced and a corner blade sign was added; the western storefronts became a reception area and conference room in the 1990s, when the east lobby corridor was also shortened.

Historical context

Architect and builder Wyatt C. Hedrick raised the tower on a site bought from Ralph Lowe in 1946; it opened in 1948 with no vacancies, its 51 tenants all in the oil industry, and represented about a fourth of Midland's office space. By the 1960s the offices had been replaced with retail space.