Lowden Building

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Lowden Building
The building in 2021, viewed West Bay Street
Map
General information
Location214 West Bay Street
Town or citySavannah, Georgia
CountryUnited States
Coordinates32°04′56″N 81°05′37″W / 32.0823°N 81.0937°W / 32.0823; -81.0937
Completed1910 (114 years ago) (1910)
Technical details
Floor count3–5

Lowden Building is a historic building in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located in Savannah's Historic District, the addresses of some of the properties are West Bay Street, above Factors Walk, while others solely utilize the former King Cotton warehouses on River Street. As of February 2022, these are Land & Sea Wear, The Black Dog, Perkins & Sons Chandlery and Earthbound Trading Company.

George W. Lowden

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The River Street façade, with the William Taylor Stores in the center

The property was built in 1910 for George W. Lowden, an oyster merchant. In his first year of business, his Bluffton and Savannah Line sailed from his wharf, in front of his property on River Street, to Bluffton, South Carolina, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. It made the return journey on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.[1]

In 1912, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against Lowden in the District Court of the United States for libel in the seizure of 150 cases of oysters, dispatched to Chastain, Davis & Vestal Co. in Knoxville, Tennessee, each containing two dozen cans that had allegedly been misbranded, a violation of the Food and Drugs Act. The shipment, made on or around September 15, 1911, was labeled on the cases as being "2 Doz. No. 1 Cove Oysters Venus Point Brand" and on the cans as being "Venus Point Brand Cove Oysters, Packed by Geo. W. Lowden, Main Office, Savannah, Georgia, Factories Georgia and South Carolina." Adulteration of the product was alleged, the reason being that the water had been "mixed and packed therewith and substituted for oysters, thus reducing their quality and strength." The pertinent point raised was that the product's labels did not state the presence of added water, nor bore any "statements that the product was other than oysters and oyster liquor."[2]

On April 23, 1917, Lowden claimed his wharf was damaged by lines of wire rope from the pipeline dredge Morgan that passed along the Savannah River. He received damages of $39.95 from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.[3]

Lowden died on July 7, 1920, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he been for treatment on a health issue. He is buried in Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery.[4] In 1929, his relative Harry Oliver Lowden filed a trademark registration for the canned oysters, canned shrimp and canned prawns business.[5]

Architectural detail

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Blue Book of American Shipping Marine and Naval Directory of the United States; Statistics of Shipping and Shipbuilding in America, Volume 15 (1910), p. 518
  2. ^ Notices of Judgment Under the Food and Drugs Act, Issue 2001, Part 2250] – United States Food and Drug Administration (1913), p. 2094
  3. ^ United States Congressional Serial Set, Volume 7447 (1918), p. 2 of Document No. 925
  4. ^ Barnesville News Gazette, July 15, 1920
  5. ^ Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 387, United States Patent Office (1929), p. 764