I. M. Bear Building

Contributors:

John H. Brunjes, builder; Charles McMillen, architect

Variant Name(s):

Efirds Department Stores Department Store; Einstein Building

Dates:

1906-1907

Location:

Wilmington, New Hanover County

Street Address:

272 N. Front St., Wilmington, NC

Status:

Standing

Type:

Commercial

Images Published In:

Beverly Tetterton, Wilmington: Lost But Not Forgotten (2005).

Note:

In 1906, McMillen completed plans for a 5-story, pressed brick and terra cotta building constructed by J. H. Brunjes. The contract went to Newport News builders Howard and Moss. (Manufacturers’ Record, Sept. 6, 1906). According to Tony Wrenn, in Wilmington, North Carolina: An Architectural and Historical Portrait (1984), the Romanesque Revival building was constructed by Brunjes for tenants I. M. Bear and Company, merchants, and was known as the I. M. Bear Building. It was later the Einstein Building and still later became Efird’s Department Store