Greensboro's Treasured Places

Greensboro's Renaissance Past

The City of Greensboro Central Fire Station was constructed as part of a city-wide renaissance known as Greater Greensboro in which the city grew in population and expanded civic services. Paralleling the strong national economy of the Roaring Twenties, Greensboro grew to become the third largest city in the state.

The Greater Greensboro initiative began in 1923, when the city won permission from the state legislature to expand its territory through annexation and increase its population from 25,000 to 40,000. With this expansion came a new city charter and the need to build new schools, improve transportation, utilities, parks and playgrounds. Included in this era of growth was a new city zoning ordinance, a new health department, and the city's first full-time paid fire department.

The Central Fire Station was constructed in 1926 a block north of its smaller predecessor. The new structure was designed by Greensboro architect Charles C. Hartmann – a prolific architect credited with high profile projects such as the Dudley Memorial Building at North Carolina A&T, the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Building, the F.W. Woolworth Building (now the International Civil Rights Museum), and both Dudley and Grimsley High Schools.

Hartmann designed the station using an Italian Renaissance architectural motif that interpreted the six fire-engine bays into wide classical arches supported by robust engaged Ionic columns. The columns are constructed of terra cotta and are colored and textured to resemble Mount Airy granite. They form an engaging and human scales streetscape for pedestrians walking along North Greene Street.

The Central Station was closed in 1980 and its future was in doubt until the building's grand facade was incorporated into the construction of a large hotel in the mid-1980s. The interior of the station was adaptively reused as an interesting restaurant and live music space known as Central Station. At this time, the space is vacant, but the rhythm of the wide arched entries and robust columns remain great examples of art in architecture in center city.

Old Place, New Look

The North State Milling Company at 816 South Elm Street is an excellent example of an early twentieth-century industrial site.  The company was founded in 1912 and manufactured plain and self-rising corn meal and flour, hen scratch, bran, and feed for livestock. Grain was brought to the site by truck and by rail where it was processed and held for distribution across the region. The original three-level building features a handsome corbelled brick cornice and exterior painted sign advertising Daily Bread Flour, but the interior of the building holds exceptional detailing as well.

Processed grain was initially stored in vertical silos located within the building. Unlike the tall metal silos that were added with later expansions and lend their trademark silhouettes to the South Elm Street corridor today, these interior silos were constructed of hefty wood planks laid one atop the other. This substantial construction method provided support for the massive weight of tons of stored grain. The grain was accessed by use of a hopper at the base of the silo that dispensed material as needed.

Remarkably well-preserved, these silos remain an integral part of the Mill. Recent renovations by building owner Eric Robert have exposed these silos in a way that is both historic, yet dramatically contemporary. Robert divided the tall vertical space by floor level, reusing the planks once part of the wall, as flooring. Each roughly 10 foot silo space was connected by a broad passage to the adjoining space and opened to daylight from above. Although spaces are constructed of 100-year old wood, and conform to the dimensions of the original silos, the beautifully austere space is a minimalist setting that feels oddly futuristic.

Old buildings often feature universal truths that are manifested in the use of time-tested materials, organic spaces, and off-beat recycled spaces. The adapted silo spaces of the North State Mill feature many of these features, including heart of pine lumber, comfortably proportioned rooms, and repurposed grain storage volumes. Here is a great example of the beauty of art as an integral part of our architectural landscape.

Other interesting portions of the building are available for commercial adaptive re-uses. The site is located just a block south of the bustling South Elm Street historic district. Inquiries may be directed to Fred Preyer at 336.294.8900 or by email.

A World of Architecture in One Building

The L. Richardson Preyer Federal Courthouse, located at the intersection of West Market and North Eugene streets in downtown Greensboro, stands among the most celebrated examples of Art Deco architecture in North Carolina.

Featuring Ionic columns, a grand frieze, and a raised piano nobile (second floor), this building looked to classic Roman, Egyptian, and Mayan architecture for inspiration. These themes have been stylized and reinterpreted in order to incorporate the streamlined patterns and motifs popular at the time.

Access around the exterior and interior of the building is restricted due to standard security procedures. However, Preservation Greensboro has arranged a special Insider’s Tour of the building in celebration of National Historic Preservation Month in May.

For those curious about the Art Deco interior spaces decorated by period paint colors, terrazzo floors, marble wainscoting and Virginia greenstone trim, meet on the front steps of the West Market Street entrance at 4:30 p.m. on May 13th. NOTE: Cell phones and cameras are NOT allowed inside this site. Please bring photo identification for admission, such as a valid driver's license or passport.

For more information on Preservation Greensboro’s Insider Tours, please visit our website.

Greensboro’s Classical Acroteria

Greensboro’s proposed International Civil Rights Museum (originally F. W. Woolworth’s) located at 132 South Elm Street was constructed in 1929 according to plans drawn by architect Charles C. Hartmann. The two-story structure is carefully tailored and detailed by Hartmann, who earned a distinguished reputation in the Gate City by having designed such notable structures as the Hotel O. Henry and the Jefferson Standard Building both on North Elm Street, as well as Dudley High School on Lincoln Street and the Richardson Memorial Hospital on Benbow Road.

In his design for the Woolworth building, Hartmann blended classical elements with Art Deco motifs, including a stylized metallic frieze between the first and second story; a pediment flanked by roundels, and impressive classical acroteria.

An acroterion is a shell-like architectural feature often placed at the summit of the pediment or at a terminus of the roofline. In the case of the Woolworth building in Greensboro (image, right), the masonry feature is a petal-shaped ornament coupled with foliage and a floral design. Hartmann, it is clear, was enjoying a vivid representation of a little appreciated architectural feature.

This handsome structure that later became the site of the 1960 sit-in’s is not the Gate City’s only acroterion-clad edifice. Other buildings that sport the feature include the Masonic Lodge on West Market Street and the Carolina Theatre on South Greene Street. Both date from the 1920s.

Facing the Past

The Clegg Building was constructed in 1904 to designs by architect Frank A. Weston. Weston relocated his firm from Denver, Colorado to Greensboro under the expectation of a Gate City building boom, and the Clegg Building is one of many structures in the city by his hand.

The two-story building at 123 South Elm Street was built along with its next-door neighbor, the towering Dixie Building. Early occupants included the Clegg Cafe and the Greensboro Music Company.

The faces incorporated into the facade are typical of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century architecture, which often sought to evoke medieval designs of Europe. The faces are crafted of terra cotta tile, and introduce a whimsical, yet humane element to the South Elm streetscape. The building remains a rare example of Mediterranean Revival design in downtown Greensboro that represents a period in our history that valued hand-craftsmanship, artistry, and careful detail.

Deco Detail

The Kress Building, located at 212 South Elm Street, was erected in 1930 to plans drawn by architect Edward Sibbert. Sibbert is well-regarded nationally for his exuberant Art Deco designs, and the Greensboro store was the first under his employment as architect for the S. H. Kress Company.

The facade includes polychrome terra cotta tile supplied by the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company of New York. The Kress store closed in 1973 and the building remained vacant until 2001, when it was restored by J. Hyatt Hammond Architects and Lomax Construction. The intricate terra cotta façade was carefully conserved by Van Der Staak Restorations of Seagrove, NC.

Thanks to Megan Privett for research on the Kress Building.