Over the years, Clemson fans likely got a glimpse of the Sally Rose mansion through the trees. Located on Clemson Boulevard, the mansion will soon be lost to development. The home was built in 1948 for Sally Abney Rose, daughter of the founder of Abney Mills.
The home sat vacant for years, and eventually, vandals took over. They’ve spraypainted the walls, plus significant other types of damage.
The home will live on in history. There is a miniature at the Anderson County History Museum.
Spartanburg‘s Masonic Temple was built in 1927. The neoclassical building has three floors. It’s been home to several fraternal organizations. It’s home to the Spartan Lodge No. 70 AFM, founded in 1849. Other organizations are Arcanum 777 AFM, St John’s 333 AFM, and Tallulah OES 16.
It’s a contributing property to the Spartanburg Historic District.
The Callaham-Hicks Funeral Home began as the John-Nina Hospital in 1913. Started by Nina Littlejohn, it was the first licensed hospital for Black residents in Spartanburg. It continued to serve the community until 1932, when the Spartanburg General Hospital opened up a wing in the hospital to provide care to Black patients during segregation.
M. S. Callaham purchased the hospital from the Littlejohns and opened a funeral home. At the time, Dean Street and the surrounding streets were the center of a Black middle-class neighborhood. Doctors, business leaders, and educators called the neighborhood home.
The John Woodward Funeral Home moved into the building that was once the Providence Hospital, one of the Black hospitals in Spartanburg, in 1945. The family business began in 1916 at the suggestion of J. F. Floyd of Floyd Mortuary to serve the Black families in the area. Their first location was on Wofford Street. It’s the oldest African American owned business in Spartanburg and one of the oldest businesses in town. It is still family-owned and operated.
The “Bubble” House went viral this year after it was featured on Zillow Gone Wild. It’s more commonly known as the “Round House,” but that name is too boring. I think it looks like a hippity hop. With lakefront views, this plump house is a three-story, three-bedroom, three-bath wonder that was built in 1977.
I’ve seen no mention of who the architect or the builder were. Update: Thankfully, I shared a photo of the house in a Facebook group, and I was able to find out the architect. According to Liz Petty, “Robert W and Ida Rugenstein. They both worked in designing men’s slacks. CAMPUS Company based in New York. /hey were from Ohio but lived in many places where work took them. He was of German descent and she of Italian descent. As I said I worked with them, they used me to model slacks, made pictures and sent with pattern info to NY for production approval. They were great people.” Below I’ve posted a link and the text to Robert and Ida’s obituaries.
No one has lived there since the 1990s. It’s also been on the market for almost two years. Someone needs to buy this house, restore it, and list it in AirBNB.
Robert Rugenstein (Dec 4, 1921 – Sept 25, 2022)
Robert was born in Indianapolis Indiana to August and Dorothy Rugenstein. He had an older sister, Edith. His mother passed away when he was 7 years old. His dad remarried and had two more kids, Charmayne and Edwin.
August was a printer and when the depression hit he had no work. The family was split up; Robert and Edith were cared for by Aunt Emma. Robert took whatever jobs he could find, (first being in a slaughter house washing cattle butts at 25 cents a day). The government had started the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program and Robert was sent off to Bend/Redman Oregon to work in the forests. He graduated high school in Redman, Oregon.
Upon completing CCC he took a job building a new highway. The Alaska Highway, and went off to Canada and Alaska. He worked primarily as a lineman installing poles and power/communication lines. During that time he was injured in a dynamite blast but stayed on the job. It was so cold they had to blast pole holes. Note; IF the temperature dropped to -50f they didn’t have to go out and work.
When WW2 broke out Robert signed up with the US Army. He was sent to India and worked in Burma, China mostly with the British Army. He traveled to several areas, including the “Hump” into China. Worked with the headhunters that were hired to kill Japanese, installed power and communication for the Army and stayed in the area for the entire war. During this time he was electrocuted while working on a pole and was saved by a local worker who knocked him off the powerline.
At the end of the war he returned to Indiana (discharged Jan 6, 1946) and subsequently met Rosemary Hasty, they were married in Dec 1945 and had 3 kids, (Mark, Warren and Kathryn). Initially they lived in Fort Wayne, moved to Roanoke and around 1960 moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Robert worked several jobs ending up in the clothing trade as a cutter. He progressed to operations and design.
After moving to Kansas City area about 1962 he worked as VP for production at a local clothing manufacturer. That company folded around 1964 and he moved on to several different companies, different cities and locations over the years.
In 1964 he was divorced and married Ida, they remained married until her death (over 50 years).
At approximately 55 years old Robert quit working and joined the International Executive Service Corps (IESC), [an executive peace corps] He along with his key aide, Ida, would go to different countries for one to three months to train personnel on how to design, run and produce clothing products for international sales. They weren’t paid for their work but all expenses were paid. He still holds the record of over 47 trips to other countries to assist in the design, production and overall operation of textile companies in the clothing manufacturing. He and his wife, Ida, were awarded a special award by the US President for their work overseas. He wrote a book in “Executive Peace Corps” about their adventures with IESC.
During his life he was always “thinking” and had several patents (from solar, to car covers, to cutting machines). He had the knack of building his own homes with unique (ball and round) designs. He would design them on legal paper, order materials, build the home and the left over waste material was minimal (fit in one wheel barrel). He was trained as a blacksmith early in life, ran a farm, made concrete tiles, build and renovated homes and was always thinking of improvements or different ways to accomplish ideas.
He was a long time member of the Shriners, (he assisted in a kids getting specialized Shriner’s Hospital care while he was overseas). He was a member of Mensa as well.
Robert lived a full active life and had worked in over 50 countries, traveled around the world (couple of times) and was always looking for adventure.
Robert moved to Hawaii after Ida passed away (Jan 9, 2019) in 2019.
Ida Rugenstein (Jan 5, 1928 – Jan 9, 2019)
Ida (Vazzano) Rugenstein, 91, passed away January 9, 2019. She is survived by her husband, Robert W. Rugenstein; her children, Dominic and Donna Saragusa, Connie and Frank Jiabia, Mark and Bing Rugenstein; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and her sisters, Mary Vazzano Hannan and Clara Vazzano Stegmaier (David).
Ida was a great cook and a terrific seamstress. She was a World Volunteer for IESC and enjoyed traveling the world.
Today was lost our wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and sister. She was an amazing woman. She had a zeal for life and we will never forget the stories she told about the people she met and the places she had seen while traveling all over the world with her husband. Her infectious laugh and vibrant smile will be remembered forever. We will love her always.
Brutontown was founded in 1874 when Benjamin Bruton, a freedman, bought 1.75 acres in the northwest part of South Carolina. Over time, it became a Black settlement as more Black families moved around Bruton’s land.
The Bruton Temple Baptist Church was the first church for the community. It was built in 1921. The church is still active.
Brutontown is now a part of Greenville.
