It's stood tall at the corner of Fulton and Mariposa Streets in downtown Fresno for over 110 years. Today on KVPR's Central Valley Roots the story Fresno's first high-rise, the Helm Building.
Fresno was just 40 years old when real estate developer Samuel N. Griffith and the heirs of William F. McKenzie broke ground on the 10-story, steel-framed Griffith-McKenzie Building.
It was reportedly the tallest building between Los Angeles and San Francisco when it was built. Rectangular in form, the building is clad in layers of terra cotta, glass and brown bricks. It features a broad and highly detailed cornice at the roofline, shading the arch-topped windows of the 10th floor.
The building was designed by George Kelham, one of San Francisco's finest architects, and who studied at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris. Kelham was known for landmarks like the San Francico’s Public Library, the Palace Hotel, and the city’s Federal Reserve Bank. The building's style is equal parts Italian Renaissance Revival and the Chicago commercial style. It set the basic model the Fresno’s other tall buildings would follow for the next 20 years.
In the 1930s the building was purchased by Frank Helm. He upgraded it with air conditioning and art deco interior details. Renamed the Helm Building it remains one of Fresno’s most recognizable landmarks.
Oh and they next time you’re in San Francisco, go to the main entrance of the Palace Hotel just south of Market, and look across the street at the Sharon Building. No your eyes aren’t deceiving you. It bears a striking resemblance to Fresno’s Helm Building, and it too was designed by George Kelham.
