Kress on Dexter

When it opened in the 1890s, Montgomery, Alabama’s SH Kress & Co. store was built with two entrances: one on Dexter Avenue for white customers, and one on Monroe Street for black customers. Kress was something like a department store with a lunch counter, and the one in Montgomery was the company’s third location. Being on downtown’s main thoroughfare, a half-block from the Court Square fountain, its location meant that it was a busy place. The store burned in 1927 but was remodeled beautifully in 1929, yet its bustling grandeur couldn’t save… Read more Kress on Dexter →