THE LEGACY OF THE HISTORIC WATERMAN BUILDING

The Waterman Building served as the headquarters of Waterman Steamship Corporation and its subsidiaries, Ryan Stevedoring Company, Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation and Pan-Atlantic Steamship Corporation.  From its opening in 1948, this building, marked at the top with its signature W, provided an educational attraction in downtown Mobile.  Waterman commissioned the Rand McNally Map Company to construct the world famous Waterman Globe, a 12-foot diameter depiction of the earth that rotated on its axis every three minutes and fifty seconds.  Placed into storage in 1973, the Globe was restored in the Mitchell Center on the University of South Alabama campus in 1999.  Elaborate murals on the ceiling and surrounding walls of the building’s lobby area are still available for viewing on the first floor.