Tag Archives: Spartanburg County

Loessburg-Wrightson House-Spartanburg, South Carolina

Built in 1950, this home is a contributing property to the Converse Heights Historic District.

1954 advertisement in The Spartanburg Herald Journal

Seven Gables-Spartanburg, South Carolina

The home of Henry and Martha Blackford was built in the early 1920s. It is a contributing property to the Converse Heights Historic District.

The Year in Review-Top Ten Posts of 2024

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.

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.”