Presented by the Buidings Worth Saving
Committee of the Atlanta Preservation Center:

2001 List of Endangered Buildings:

Rich-Dillon Houses/Murray Brothers Funeral Home
490-502 Pryor Street

These two Queen Anne-style houses and carriage house were built by the Morris Rich family, founders of Rich's Department Store, between 1890 and 1905. The houses are typical of the homes of prominent Atlanta Jewish families that once lined Pryor Street. There are a few remaining vestiges of a thriving Jewish neighborhood, but the former residential character has been replaced by the interstate interchanges, surface parking and Turner Field.

In the 1930's, at the time of the purchase of the house by Austin Dillon for a funeral home, the houses were connected with an addition. While the upstairs served as the Dillons' residence, they operated their funeral home downstairs. Ms. Dillon is said to be the first woman to receive a mortician's license in Georgia. Murray Brothers Funeral Home ran its business in the two houses until it sold the property in 2000. The current owner plans to demolish the homes, which still maintain their historic integrity and original interiors, and build condominiums on the site.

<< Back