Historic preservation has served a central role in American history, and over the past 30 years, it held an increasingly relevant role in preserving sites of Black history in Greensboro. Non-profit and non-governmental organizations such as Preservation Greensboro can help to develop approaches to social equity and advocate for public and private funding to raise…
The Guilford County Courthouse celebrates 100 years in 2020. Due to associations with military history, it is perhaps the most famous courthouse by name in the world, but the Greensboro landmark is just the latest of a series of historic courthouses that have served the county since its inception in 1771. The Guilford Courthouse name…
East Greensboro is a constellation of neighborhoods, many with a spectrum of African American connections. However, the heart of East Greensboro is within a triangle of seminal institutions including North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Bennett College, and Dudley High School. These institutions define a community that led North Carolina through the Civil Rights…
Most in Greensboro celebrate the fact that North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (A&T) is the largest historically black university in the nation, and most recognize it is a well-regarded public land grant university for research in areas of engineering, biomedical engineering, and technology. Fewer people realize that A&T’s campus is composed of a…
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…
From time to time, historic places can find reinvention through adaptive reuse that extends their utility into new capacities. Greensboro’s Cultural Center is an excellent example of this “new wine in an old bottle” model of community conservation. Formerly the home of the Greensboro Daily News at 200 North Davie Street, the reincarnated building rivals the…
The Katherine and Sidney J. Stern House at 1804 Nottingham Road was built around 1955-56 to designs drawn by Edward Loewenstein. One of Greensboro’s best examples of Mid-Century Modern architecture, the house features a butterfly roofline, large windows to admit natural light, Pecky Cypress siding, and hand-made brick. Katherine and Sidney Stern chose Loewenstein to…
Greensboro is best known – in architectural circles – for its flagship Italian Villa-style Blandwood Mansion, its signature Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Skyscraper, and its Art Deco-style Kress and Woolworth (International Civil Rights Center & Museum) buildings. However, to fans of modern architecture, Greensboro might represent a high-water mark in the region for its collection…
“Less is More” is the well-known edict of the German design school Bauhaus, and Walter Gropius was Bauhaus’s founder. In Greensboro, one building is attributed to the world famous designer that helped introduce modernist design principles to the American public. A native of Berlin, Gropius was an architect and art educator who founded the Bauhaus…
Among the homes of Hamilton Lakes, the Howard House at 3905 Henderson Road stands as an eye-catching example of Mid-Century Modernism. Built for Diane (1929-2009) and Will (1927-1996) Howard in 1955, the house has been substantially reconstructed in 2014-15 in order to address long-term challenges related to materials, drainage, and sustainability. It retains its original H-shaped…
The Mary and Norman Jarrard Residence at 616 East Lake Drive is one of Westerwood’s best exapmples of Mid-Century Modern Architecture. This unique home was built in 1969 for Mary and Norman E. Jarrard, an English professor at nearby A&T and Greensboro College. The home was designed by Jarrard himself, as inspired by his favorite designs…
Mid-Century modern design continues to make a solid comeback in Greensboro with the recently announced restoration of the Diane and Will Howard House on Henderson Road in Hamilton Lakes. The Mid-Century style was named for its period of influence in the mid-twentieth century, and represents an architectural movement to rethink traditional designs based on classical…