Built in 1820, the Adam Strain Building served as a cotton warehouse. Sitting in downtown Darien, it was the center of commercial business for Darien prior to the Civil War. After the War, it was served as a bank. It was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
These photos were taken before the building was saved from demolition. It is now being restored.
If you ever visit, it gets the best morning and afternoon light because of it’s location.
I have not been able to determine the history of the building. It was most recently a dialysis center. My best guess was that it was a seed and feed store.
These photos were taken in 2017. Unfortunately, as of 2023, this building is no longer standing.
Constructed in 1903, this brick building served a variety of functions. The worn-out signs reveal some of that history. From grocery stores to barber shops, the space evolved over the years. I even found an advertisement for Lee Military Store where you could pick up needed military gear, and even jewelry was available.
The longest-running tenant, based on newspaper articles, seems to have been the Magnolia Grill, but it was also home to Randy’s Chicken Shack. Its location at a street corner provided the building with a long life and many uses over the years. Unfortunately, those years are now over.
I love the Coca-Cola and drug store ghost signs on the side of this downtown building in Colbert.
