2013 Endangered Properties List

Owner: Privately Owned
History and Significance:
Known as the Erbelding Building, 601-603 Broad Street is one of the oldest existing downtown buildings in Augusta. Research indicates the building was constructed c. 1870 and was typically a mixed used property with commercial business on the first floor and residential units, both private and rental, on the second floor. Mr. E. R. Schneider, importer of wines and beer, is documented in the 1885 Augusta Chronicle newspaper as the local agent for the Anheuser-Busch brewery based in St. Louis, Missouri. 1897 advertisements report that the proprietress Mrs. T. E. Busch is operating the Busch House as a boarding house. In the early 1930s, the Erbelding Plumbing Company, run by well known business man Edward J. Erbelding, began occupying the building and is listed in the city directory until 1980. The use
of the building waned over the next several years both commercially and residentially. Historic Augusta has been working towards revitalize the 500 and 600 blocks of Broad through our prior listing of the Reid Range Building
at 586 Broad Street to the Endangered Property list and advocating for the rehabilitation f the former Nash dealership at
566 Broad Street. The Erbelding building sits prominently on the corner lot which makes the sensitive preservation of
the exterior features, including windows and the second floor dormers, on the south and east facades critical. With the
rehabilitation of the Miller Theatre one block up, there is great opportunity for the building to be placed back into regular service and the state and federal tax credits could be utilized to perform a certified rehabilitation of this historic building.

Threat: Inconsistent occupancy, alterations of historic character defining features, development
pressure along Broad Street corridor Potential Uses: Mixed use; commercial office space; income
producing residential apartments

Preservation Tools: (1) A contributing resource in the Augusta Downtown
Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and
is therefore eligible for all programs of the National Register which include
available grant funds and tax incentives for certified rehabilitations; (2) located in
the Downtown Augusta Historic District which means that any alteration to the
exterior, including demolition, should be approved by the Augusta Richmond
County Historic Preservation Commission.