View of water tower for sprinkler system on roof of 1924 store, from southeast looking northwest.

Rich's Downtown Department Store, 45 Broad Street, Atlanta, Fulton, GA. Other Title: Rich's Downtown. Photograph by Jennifer Almand.Significance: The original 1924 building, which has been added to eight times, reflects the appearance of an Italian palazzo, a favorite theme associated with department stores constructed in the early twentieth century. The 1946/1948 Store for Homes addition is one of Atlanta's earliest examples of International Style architecture. The Rich's complex is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Rich's is significant as the focus of retail shopping in downtown Atlanta since the store's opening in 1924, and as the location from which Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested following a sit-in as Rich's Magnolia Room restaurant, leading to his first night ever spent in jail.