{"nrhp_refnum":"90000546","name":"SOWEGA Building","other_names":["Watermelon Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"100 S. Hutchinson Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Adel","county":"Cook County","state":"GA","lat":31.136751204000063,"lon":-83.42350045199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-03-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story red-brick commercial building with a basement and roof deck at 100 South Hutchinson Ave. in Adel, Cook County, Georgia, built about 1930 as headquarters of the SOWEGA watermelon growers' cooperative and designed by Daniell and Beutell of Atlanta.","why_significant":"It is significant in architecture for its good commercial design and its terra-cotta watermelon trademark ornament, which is the only known use of the motif on a Georgia building. It is also significant in agriculture and commerce as the headquarters of a regional watermelon marketing cooperative organized in 1921. It is also the work of the Atlanta firm Daniell and Beutell.","narrative":"Rising three stories in downtown Adel, Georgia, this red-brick commercial building was designed by the Atlanta firm Daniell and Beutell as headquarters for the South West Georgia Watermelon Growers Association, known as SOWEGA. The cooperative formed in 1921 to help growers win better prices. Light buff terra-cotta trim marks the belt course, windows, parapet and quoins, and green terra-cotta watermelons set in lozenges, the group's trademark, decorate the facade between the second and third floors. No other Georgia building is known to use that motif. The building housed the association's offices and newspaper, along with a post office, a drug store and Western Union offices, and had a roof garden and an early electric elevator. The association sold it in 1960 to a lumber company, which later donated it to the county chamber of commerce. Its architecture and its link to a regional farm marketing effort support its recognition as a statewide landmark.","period_of_significance":"1930-1940","architect_builder":"Daniell and Beutell of Atlanta","architectural_style":"Commercial Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use for commerce; the ground floor was remodeled in 1988 for the Cook County Chamber of Commerce, and the upper floors were planned to be rented as offices.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.291774-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/90000546.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000546/a15fbe7730-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000546/a15fbe7730-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Michael Rivera","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SE_corner_of_SOWEGA_Building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael Rivera</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SE_corner_of_SOWEGA_Building.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207649","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOWEGA_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7392141"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/cook-county/sowega-building-90000546/"}