The third of a three-part series reviewing the history of apartment housing in Greensboro. By 1940, Greensboro was evolving from a small city to a regional industrial and insurance center by experiencing dramatic increase in population – surging from 10,035 in 1900 to 59,319 in 1940. In growing into the 3rd largest municipality in North…
DetailsThe second of a three-part series reviewing the history of apartment housing in Greensboro. The completion of the Vick Apartments on East Fisher Avenue in 1919 – the first exclusively residential apartment building in the city – proved the market for non-single family housing was strong. A flurry of other apartment houses followed, including the…
DetailsThe first of a three-part series reviewing the history of apartment housing in Greensboro. As a county seat and college town during the nineteenth century, Greensboro saw little need historically for multi-family apartments. That began to change as the city attained great wealth through insurance, chemicals, and textiles, growing to become the fourth largest city…
DetailsGreensboro’s earliest buildings rarely soared to dizzying heights due to low market demand and frugal financial capital. Traditional building materials such as wood and brick generally limited construction height to three stories, except for an occasional courthouse cupola or church spire. Early images of Greensboro’s skyline show structures peeking around treetops, with rare architectural features…
DetailsOne hundred years ago, it was a center of Greensboro’s social scene, but today the rustic Edgewood Estate sits empty after a period of neglect. It stands ready for a new owner to restore the formerly rural retreat to its next chapter in history. Located in the middle of a suburban block at 111 Arden…
DetailsMany of the region’s great gardens began as private rural estates that were away from the distractions and distresses of city life. Reynolda House for the Reynolds family of Winston Salem NC (1917), Cason and Virginia Callaway’s garden in Pine Mountain GA (1952), and Lewis Ginter’s Botanical Garden in Richmond VA (1984) are all examples…
DetailsAlthough Greensboro was a small southern village in the mid-nineteenth century, it enjoyed strong associations with northern cities through its architecture. Alongside the work of Alexander Jackson Davis, Greensboro features residences by unknown but creative designers within its architectural history. One such example is the home of Dr. David Weir, a native of Ireland who arrived in…
DetailsNew investigations made possible by digitized media and web resources such as newspapers.com have revised the historical record of three buildings along South Elm Street. These revelations have uncovered historical narratives that have been long forgotten but now can be used to enhance more appreciation of downtown Greensboro’s historical built environment. Much of our knowledge…
DetailsThe Sellars House at 917 North Elm Street in the Fisher Park neighborhood is among Greensboro’s best examples of Craftsman architecture. It stands along a section of North Elm Street once reckoned to be Greensboro’s Gold Coast, and also features an interesting link to African American heritage. The house was built in 1913-14 for Carl…
DetailsThe comedy film “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” was released in 1948. It enjoyed a distinguished pedigree – produced by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by H. C. Potter, and showcasing stars Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Melvyn Douglas. Although the movie attracted modest audiences, it was cleverly paired with a national promotion of “dream…
DetailsWhy is Greensboro’s Blandwood Mansion the best place to learn about North Carolina history? “History happens here” says Benjamin Briggs, executive director of Preservation Greensboro, the non-governmental organization that owns and operates the museum. “The site’s primary associations are with two-term North Carolina governor John Motley Morehead. However, many other key figures in the state’s history…
Details“Fisher Park was the first Greensboro suburb planned and developed around a park and one of the earliest park suburbs in North Carolina.” – Marvin Brown, 1991 Captain Basil John Fisher was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1851. Little is known of his life before his military career. He was a member of the 5th…
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