Thank you for joining me in my travels around the South. It’s been a great year of wandering backroads and a few main ones. If I learned anything, it is that people love abandoned houses, buildings with unexpected histories, and (in)famous graves.
Category Archives: -South Carolina
Art Deco Apartment Building-Spartanburg, South Carolina
This Art Deco building on East Main Street was built in 1945. Originally an apartment building, it was converted to office space in the mid-1960s. It is now the home of the LandArtDesign Group.
Coca-Cola Building of Spartanburg, South Carolina
Spartanburg Coca-Cola began in 1902 in a building behind the Spartan Inn. The fourth and final building was opened in 1936. The Art Deco construction was designed by local noted architect James Frank Collins, who designed the Masonic Temple, Spartanburg General Hospital, and Wofford and Converse campuses. The building was in use until 2017. It then sat abandoned until 2023, when plans were made to save the building and turn it into a mixed-use facility.
The Bishop William Wallace Duncan House of Spartanburg, South Carolina
The Queen Anne home was built after Bishop Duncan was named bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Prior to his appointment, he was a professor at Wofford College and he lived on campus with his family.
From the National Register of Historic Places application, “The Bishop William Wallace Duncan House, built ca. 1886, exemplifies the Queen Anne style of architecture. Duncan was a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was an active leader in the fields of education and religion. The house’s design was produced by Gottfried L. Norrman, a well-known Swedish born, Danish and German trained architect who practiced in Spartanburg and Atlanta. Built upon a brick basement, the two-story building has clapboard and cedar shingle siding laid in staggered butts. Asymmetrical in design, it has a high-pitched roof of many angles pierced by six chimneys. Significant architectural details include a decorative mosaic tile front porch landing, five large chimneys, the front one featuring a terra cotta cartouche containing the Duncan family crest, a massive wood shingle-clad cylindrical tower, stained glass and Queen Anne block glass windows, and a host of interior details such as oak paneling, spindle friezes and screens, a massive stone chimneypiece in the central hall, decorative wood mantels with overmantels and a staircase. Listed in the National Register July 12, 1976. The Bishop William Wallace Duncan House was moved from its original location at 249 N. Church St. to its present location on 300 Howard St in November 1999.”
White Oaks of Greenville, South Carolina
White Oaks was designed by noted architect Philip Trammell Shutze in 1957 for Charles and Homozel Daniel. Charles Daniel was a contractor and co-owner of Daniel International Construction Corporation. He was a trustee of Clemson University and a generous donor to the College of Architecture at Clemson. He also briefly served as a United States Senator in 1954.
The 9,750-square-foot home is a copy of the rebuilt Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia. In 1992, Homozel Daniel donated White Oaks to Furman University. It now serves as the President’s house.
Baber-Rhyne Drug Store of Spartanburg, South Carolina
The Baber Rhyne Drug Store, located next to the train depot on Magnolia Street, was incorporated in 1918. The original owners were Grover Baber and J. W. Rhyne. They eventually turned ownership to Wendell Burnett. Based on advertisements, it was the only drug store in town open 24 hours a day. The location was convenient for travelers and rail staff. The drugstore eventually closed. Different restaurants have called this location home over the years.
On a side note, while researching the history of the building, I found an article about a William Walker pleading guilty to taking over 14,000 narcotic pain tablets from the drug store. He was a former clerk there. It made me wonder what the black market value of narcotics was back in the 1950s.