Our History
Van Winkle and Watkins – a Partnership composed of Edward K. Van Winkle and Robert C. Watkins was organized in 1931 to engage in the business of building construction.”
1932
Van Winkle & Watkins joins the AGC of Georgia
The original Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill Village housed employees for the original 1881 mill. Van Winkle made 196 additions to the property between 1935 and 1936. Today, this renovated and redeveloped property in Atlanta’s Cabbagetown neighborhood houses the Fulton Cotton Mill Lofts.
Loew’s Grand Theater in Atlanta contracted Van Winkle & Watkins to build a facade for the grand premiere of Gone with the Wind on December 15, 1939. Van Winkle I and his team completed the project within 24 hours. According to Mr. Van Winkle’s wife, who attended the premiere alongside her husband, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep within the first 20 minutes of the film.
Van Winkle & Watkins built 8 Gulf Oil gas stations in the city of Atlanta.
Macon City Hall, completed in 1934, features classic columns and architectural elements. This building maintains operations as the city’s government center into the modern day.
Robert Watkins retires.
Van Winkle and Watkins becomes Van Winkle & Company.
Georgia Power, the largest electricity provider in the state, contracted Van Winkle & Watkins with fifteen projects crucial to the company’s initial expansion into the southeastern behemoth it is today. Van Winkle’s projects include work on Plants Arkwright, Atkinson, Hammond, McDonough, McManus, and the decommissioned Hapeville and Harriyat neighborhood Steam Plants.
In 2021, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution (AJC) is the city’s largest and most well-known local news source, but it began as two competing companies: the Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution. Van Winkle completed the Atlanta Journal WSB Radio Broadcasting Center in 1932.
Van Winkle’s first Coca-Cola project was a Manufacturing Plant and Office Addition in 1937, but the relationships between the companies accelerated during this decade. In total, the Van Winkle resume includes over 800 projects on Coca-Cola’s behalf. Notable projects include the pictured Crystal building and Plum Street building at the Coca-Cola headquarters, bottling and syrup plant conversions for the South Atlanta plant, and executive office renovations.
The Junior League Speech School, today called Atlanta Speech School, contracted Van Winkle to build their original educational facility in 1951. Van Winkle’s involvement in the school’s construction needs continues to the present day, including the pictured 2005 addition.
Van Winkle completed the New Junior School building for this private school in Rome, GA in the late 1950s.
In 1949, the city of Marietta and the Federal Government contracted Van Winkle to complete the original three-story Kennestone Hospital, which remained in stasis since 1946 due to a series of budget constraints and material shortages. Van Winkle completed the original 105-bed hospital in 1950 and completed additional contracts on the facility into 1951.
In 1967, Van Winkle constructed a new, 55,700 sf Computer Center for Delta Air Lines under a $1,300,714 contract. In 1969, Delta Air Lines contracted Van Winkle for the completion of the company’s Greenbriar Facility.
Historic Stone Mountain Park and Van Winkle’s relationship began in 1961 when Van Winkle performed work on the gondola lift system to the landmark’s summit. In 1962, Van Winkle completed the park’s original Memorial Hall museum.
1964
Non-union Cornerstone Builders, later called VWC, established
Georgia Tech, the Alma Mater of both Van Winkle founders and at-the-time Project Manager Edward Van Winkle Jr, contracted the company to add to the existing western stand at Georgia Tech’s Grant Stadium in 1968.
Edward Van Winkle retires.
Edward Van Winkle Jr. becomes Company President.
Company incorporates non-union Cornerstone Builders under the legal name Van Winkle & Company.
This 12-story senior living facility qualified as Van Winkle’s tallest project at its completion in 1975.
While General Motors chose Van Winkle for a variety of additions, renovations, improvements, and repairs to its facilities in decades prior, Van Winkle’s involvement with Atlanta’s Chevrolet plant, colloquially referred to as the Lakewood Plant, greatly increased at the end of the 1970s.
Van Winkle’s resume of Grady Memorial Hospital projects began during the 50s, but the most obvious work performed on the hospital began in 1979 with the addition of the hospital’s second floor entry. This project was Edward Van Winkle III’s first as Project Engineer.
The 1988 Trinity School expansion included a new 28,000 sf gymnasium, library, and performing arts building.
Van Winkle completed additions to the Thrall Car Manufacturing Company facilities in Winder, GA and Cartersville, GA.
Beginning in 1986, Saturn Corporation selected Van Winkle for multiple additions and improvements to their manufacturing plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. In 2010, General Motors acquired Saturn Corporation and continues to operate the plant.
Hughes Spalding Community Hospital, a facility initially focused on healthcare for the local African American community prior to its transition to a pediatric hospital, selected Van Winkle to expand the existing facilities in 1986.
The Van Winkle brand as it appeared in 1980.
While Van Winkle’s relationship with General Motors opened the 1980s with multiple projects for the company’s Lakewood plant, multiple projects for the company’s manufacturing plant in Doraville, Georgia grew the relationship beginning in 1986.
Beginning in 1991, Van Winkle updated and expanded Oglethorpe University’s historic campus starting with a renovation to the school’s Lowery Hall. The subsequent 1992 expansion to the pictured Phillip Weltner Library quadrupled the square footage of the school’s existing facility.
Van Winkle completed the Auburn Avenue Research Library in 1993.
While the 1996 Olympics brought a new wave of economic stimulus into Atlanta and its surrounding regions, the influx of new markets and competitors fundamentally changed the economic landscape. Company President Van Winkle Jr, sensing the city’s economic conditions were not sustainable in their markets beyond the Olympics, found direction when God spoke to him during the construction of the new Holy Spirit Catholic Church sanctuary in 1995. This project marked Van Winkle’s formal entry into the faith-based market.
The Lee B. Philmon Branch Library, also known as the Riverdale Branch Library, was completed in 1997. This distinct building won the AIA/ALA Library Building Award and the AIA Georgia Design Award.
1998
Edward Van Winkle III becomes Company President
Van Winkle Construction formally dedicated to Christ.
The 12Stone Church projects drew positive attention from local and thematically similar market segments for their impressive quality, consistency, and scope. These projects united the first and second decades of Van Winkle’s professional presence in the new millennium and influenced the company’s growth into the future.
2015
Van Winkle Construction opens an office in Greenville, SC.
