ih` ...This is a collection of great ol' timey photos taken around Spartanburg I found in a book called "A Pictorial History of Spartanburg County" written by Phillip N Racine. ...Sales day in Morgan Square.Nineteenth century photograph from the Willis Collection:courtesy of the Aug. W. Smith Company ...The big event of the week in the 19th century was sales day.Every Monday wagons carrying provisions and goods from the county and from the North Carolina mountains would gather together in Morgan Square.People who have been traveling far camped out by the spring behind the courthouse.Not only was this market day for everyone in the area,but it was also an opportunity to exchange gossip,visit with the neighbors,and frequent the local shops and saloons.This earliest picture of Morgan Square shows the Opera House with the tower and clock on the right.Notice the open space under the tower,where ladies could be let off a wagon or buggy to enter the building without getting wet in the rain.Actually a city hall,the building included a hall for theatricals and special events.Next to it stands the Merchant's Hotel,later known as the Spartan Inn,and the buildings with the columns on the far right is the courthouse.the third courthouse in the county's history,it was built in 1856 entirely of brick,and the columns were coated with white plaster.The monument which gave its name to the square was placed there with great ceremony in the spring of 1881 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Cowpens.Spartanburg was chosen as the place to coomemorate the battle because of the inaccessibility of the battleground itself. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^ Located at one of the major crossroads in the eastern part of the county,Foster's Tavern served as a "public house" from the time it was built in 1807.The tavern was a popular resting place for travelers going to Glenn Springs from the upper part of the county and is frequently singled out in letters of the antebellum period for its hospitality.In the fashion of the day,columns were added in 1845 and piazzas in 1915.The house stands at the Intersections of SC-56 and SC-295.Photograph by James Buchanan:courtesy of the Spartanburg County Historical Association ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
...In this 1905 picture of Morgan Square,Greenwald's has moved out of the Duncan Building and True's department store has moved in.True's opened for business in 1905,saying it would sell quality merchandise for the lowest prices Spartanburg had ever seen.True's advertised that the store bought for cash and expected to sell for cash.The opening of a new department store was news in itself,but True's had an extra attraction-the first elevator in Spartanburg.Floyd Liles had installed the elevator when he operated the store here,but True's made the most of the novelty by bringing people in "just for the ride." It did not hurt bussiness.To the left of True's,just across Magnolia Street,is the First National Bank.and farther down the street the Spartan Inn and the Opera House.This is one of the last pictures of the Opera House before the opening of the tower was boarded up.the building was torn down in 1907. (Postcard view courtesy of the Herald Journal)

...Variously known as Nicholl's Fort,Tanner's Mill,and Anderson Mill,this atructure sits on a foundation which dates from about 1780.the first court in the county met here in 1785.the water mill continued operation into the 1970s.It is located southeast of the city of Spartanburg where SC-64 crosses the North Tyger River. (Photograph by James Buchanan:courtesy of the Spartanburg County Historical Association) **********************************************************************
************* In June 1903 gentle rains fell for nearly five days prior to the torrential downpour on the night of June 6.A worker at one of the Clifton mills became alarmed during the early morning hours at the rapidly rising waters of the Pacolet River,and he gave the alarm.By six o'clock that morning Clifton number 3 was swept downstream against Clifton Mill number 1,and in the chaos more than 70 people died.Pacolet Mills,seen here,was also destroyed,although fewer people in that community lost their lives.The flood swept away bridges,roads,and houses and cut these communities off from the rest of the county.The trolley tracks to Converse were destroyed and were never rebuilt.Two other rivers in the county,the Tyger and the Enoree,also flooded. (Photo courtesy of Marjorie Atkins) **********************************************************************
************ ...School children stand before the elementary school provided for them in a cotton mill village in the late teens. (Photo courtesy of Elisabeth Bridgeman Jones)
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************ ...By 1930 the cotton mills in Spartanburg were in their death throes.There was no money with which to pay employees for even the few hours they were working,so the mills devised a system by which they could pay their workers in tokens.The tokens-common devices used at the time all over the country-were redeemable only at the company store.These particular are from the Fingerville mill. (tokens courtesyof Shelby Compton,photo by Linda Taylor Hudgins) **********************************************************************
************* ....Glenn Springs got its fame from its spring water,which was bottled in this plant and shipped all over the world.The photograph dates from the 1880s. (photo courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library)

These young women made up the first graduating class from Converse College when they sat for their portrait in 1897;they were outnumbered by Wofford's class of that same year,perhaps agreeably so far as the girls were concerned. **********************************************************************
*************** ...In 1903 the Barnum and Bailey Circus,after five years in Europe,came to Spartanburg for the first time in fifteen years.The circus started with a grand parade which featured "elegant novel allegorical chariot and floats,living tableax,horses,elephants,and a 40 horse team driven by one man."Thousands of people from all over came to Spartanburg to see this truly spectacular show which boasted over 1,000 performers and animals;so large was the circus that it took 86 railroad cars in 5 trains,each about one-half mile long,to transport it.Performances were held just south of Hampton Avenue between South Church and Liberty streets.The photo gives some idea of the crowds that came into town to see the show.People were hanging out of the windows;even the customers of Bishop's Cafe took time out from their "strictly American"food,considered among the best in town,to gape at the spectacle.Bishop's had a marble floor and the reputation to go with it. (photo courtesy of H.W. Cudd) **********************************************************************
************* ....Just after the turn of the century Spartanburg was the site of many conventions,and one of the largest was that held for the Shriners from the southeastern states in 1911.For the occasion Robert Olin Pickens built this marvelous camel based on the Dromedary date package.some boys pulled the animal along the street on bicycle wheels.Pickens constructed the camel out of copper,angle irons,and cowhide;it took him 2 months to build,and he was paid $186 for the job.The best part of the construction was the special use to which it was put.Pickens made the hump removable,and a keg of beer could be placed inside with 250 pounds of ice.The saddlebags held paper cups,and when the faucet connected to the udder was turned,the red light bulbs in the eyes would light up.After the convention the camel went on display in the Harris theater and was then shipped to the west coast for another convention.It never came back. (photo courtesy of R.O. and B.R. Pickens)
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************* ...."Trottin' Sally" was a fixture of downtown Spartanburg in the 1920s and 30s.He would flit up and down Main street playing his fiddle at the drop of a hat. (photo by Alfred T. Willis;courtesy of the Aug.W.Smith Company)

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...Removing the tracks from across East Main Street in 1925 was a sign of progress to the city.Since the coming of automobiles this railroad crossing had even more seriously impeded the flow of traffic.As the city became more sophisticated and train traffic increased,the fumes and noise from the engines grew more annoying,so the Southern Railway built a line around the center of town. (photo by Alfred T. Willis;courtesy of Nicholas Harakas) **********************************************************************
************** ...Saint John Street was not much more than an alley in the early 1920s.To the left of the photograph is the edge of the site of the Montgomery Building;the brick structure behind the workmen is the Southern Railway's freight depot,and just beyond it is the old Hastoc School foinded in 1907.Into the 1920s the Hastoc School educated an exclusive clientele of boys under the direction of Professor Hugh T. Shockley.the upper floor had been bedrooms for about 12 boarding students.A different building was used to educate girls.the academic standards of Hastoc were reputed to be very high,which was fortunate,for its location and appearance were not imposing. (photo courtesy of Alfred T. Willis)
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************ ...By 1915 cannons and cannon balls as well as an iron fence to keep children and vehicles away from the pedestal had been added to Morgan's statue.Trolley cars were in their heyday.The trolley in the middle is coming from Magnolia Street and the other,on the right,is headed for East Main Street. (photo by Alfred T. Willis; courtesy of the Aug. W. Smith Company) **********************************************************************
************ ...This view of Trade Street when it was not much more then an alley was taken about 1912.The photographer was looking down Dunbar Street from Elm (Saint John). The building on the left with the letters "ON" on the side was the Weddington Hardware Company,and just beyond was Thad C. Dean's feed store.Dean advertised in the newspaper constantly,once claiming "I have a car of choice Timothy Hay,the best ever - It will make the 'horse laugh.' " Trade Street was the birthplace of a number of Spartanburg businesses,among them C.L. Cannon Company and the Comunity Cash stores owned by Broadus Littlejohn **********************************************************************
************ ...At 3:30am on April 22,1910, a clerk discovered a fire behind R.O. Pickens' shop in the Spartan Inn.Firefighters battled the blaze for 5 hours in heat so intense that plate glass windows across Morgan Square broke.Gunpowder in S.B. Ezell's hardware store on the street level of the inn was barley removed before the flames got to it.the building burned to the ground,and John B. Cleveland,who owned two-thirds interest in the structure,said the next day that he had carried very little insurance on the property because the rates were to high.Shopowners whose businesses had been located in the building reported the same reluctance to carry the expensive coverage.The fire deprived the city of Spartanburg of one of its most picturesque buildings and one of the very last structures which had made up the "old Morgan Square." (photo by Alfred T. Willis; courtesy of the Aug. W. Smith Company) **********************************************************************
********** ...All over America in the 1960s suburban shopping centers drew shoppers away from the traditional downtown stores.As business in the center of town declined,city officials and downtown merchants banded together "to save downtown." Salvation would come by way of creating malls in the center city with convenient offstreet parking and inviting atmosphere in which to spend a few hours.The city of Spartanburg suffered from the same problems as other towns and sought her solutions the same way.The main Street Mall,dedicated in 1974,stretches from Converse Street to Church Street. (photo courtesy of B&B Studios)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> For Harley Morgan of Woodruff,having to abandon another farm was simply part of his life.It has happened to him before,and as far as he knew it might happen again.The difference this time,though,was that he was leaving a farm which was badly eroded for one that had been reclaimed by the Soil Conservation Service.His new home would be the first for the Morgans with electric lights.He moved in 1941. (photo courtesy of the SC Museum Commission) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Soil erosion had been a problem since colonial times,but the first national recognition of its economic and social effects did not take place until the late 1920s.By then erosion had become a national disaster,and Congress appropriated some funds to help protect the land.In 1933 Harold L. Ickes,Secretary of the Interior,authorized the creation of the Soil Erosion Service under the Works Progress Administration.One of the areas picked for demonstration and experimentation projects was the South Tyger River watershed.Directed by Thomas S. Buie,the Soil Erosion Service,which became the Soil Conservation Service in 1935,began its first project on the Berry Gully near Poplar Springs in Spartanburg County.The entire county was marked by years of neglect.Large gullies and smaller ruts made agriculture difficult and then impossible,and farmers abandoned washed-out land.The social as well as economic cost was enormous. (photo courtesy of Spartanburg Caroliniana Library) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> One of the quickest and most effective methods of stopping erosion and rebuilding gullies was to plant kudzu.In 1933 a farmer near Woodruff planted twenty kudzu plants in this gully.Only six or eight lived.By 1935,when this photo was taken,his gully was covered,and he boasted that it was filling up at a rate of two to four feet a year.Planting kudzu was rapidly adopted as an anti-erosion measure,and it appeared all over the county.Kudzu is despised by people who have built houses in areas where it has been planted because it is more than a little difficult to kill. (photo courtesy of Spartanburg Caroliniana Library) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< In the fall of 1942 Spartanburg's cotton growers faced disaster.The cotton crop was a large one and was ready to be picked,but the war had so depleted manpower that the farmers could not possibly pick the crop by themselves.So on October 8 all the students in Spartanburg County were excused from classes to go out and pick cotton.Both Converse and Wofford students joined the pickers.Here some Wofford students are hard at work alongside Dr. Clarence Norton,Wofford's dean of students,and to his left Charles P. Hammond of Hammond,Brown,Jennings' furniture store. Approximately three hundred students picked fifteen thousand pounds of cotton in that one day.Both this effort and the Bundles for Britain project demonstrate the county's community spirit of patriotism during the war years. (photo courtesy of Pat McKinney) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Converse students pick cotton in 1942 (photo courtesy of Converse College) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In 1946 the Piedmont Interstate Fair Association was organized to replace and enlarge the old county fair.The purpose of the new organization was to combine the efforts of six counties (Laurens,Polk,Rutherford,Cherokee,Union,and Spartanburg) to better show off their industrial and agricultural potential.In 1947 Paul Black was elected president of the Fair Association and served in that capacity until his death in 1975.The Interstate Fair built a concrete grandstand in 1956 to replace the old wooden structure,and harness racing was replaced by stock car racing - the highlight of the week's activities.When the carnival performers used to arrive by train,people would flock to the station on the Sunday before fair week to watch as the animals and performers disembarked.Since just after the turn of the century,fair week in Spartanburg has been an exciting time,and it is one of the counties oldest traditions. (photo courtesy of Piedmont Interstate Fair Association)

Sometime between 1900 and 1914 the Spartanburg Police Department stood for this portrait in front of the old jail built in 1823.The jail was torn down in 1914 to make way for a new city hall.Loinel Lawson tells the following about Sergant S. J. Alverson,standing in this picture in the first row on the extreme left.It seems Alverson arrested two men for driving an automobile on the sidewalk from the First Baptist Church to Liberty Street.They protested the arrest saying,"Sergant Alverson,now you aren't going to arrest us for a little thing like this are you?"Alverson responded,"Now you boys know better than that;I'll have to take you in for an offense as serious as this one."When the two appeared before Mayor John Floyd,he asked them why they had done such a foolish thing. "Well Mr. Mayor,I just bought that brand new Chalmers automobile,and it was just to good to ride in the street along with all them other cars." The mayor dismissed the case with a wry smile. (photo courtesy of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The annual Christmas parade has long been a favorite event for local youngsters.In 1949 the Aug. W. Smith Company provided this float of the "old woman in the shoe." When the float passed by Wofford College the low limbs which hung over North Church Street at that time tore the top from the shoe. (photo courtesy of the Aug. W. Smith Company) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< John R. Queen's Barber College on Magnolia Street,photographed around 1919.E. P. Event,a Spartanburg businessman who lived on East Main Street where Neuberger and Company is presently located,owned coal mines in Kentucky.One weekend when he was coming home from Kentucky on the train a young man sat down beside him.Wishing to engage the young man in conversation,Event asked him if he was on his way to Spartanburg.The young man replied,"Yes sir." "Do you go to school there?" asked Event. "Yes sir." "Do you have to study hard?" "Yes sir,in college we do have to study hard." "So you attend Wofford," said Mr. Event,happy to get that settled. "Oh,no,sir;I go to Queen's Barber College." (photo courtesy of B&B Studio)
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^^^^^^^^^^^^ In order to ease traffic congestion in downtown Spartanburg,in 1960 city officials decided to move the statue of General Daniel Morgan from its location in the middle of Morgan Square opposite Magnolia Street to its previous location,as it was moved again since 2000 from the east end of the square (as it was moved to after being taken down here.) To continue to have the general face in his traditional direction - northwest - would have had him to look directly into the building on the east side of North Church Street,so it was decided to turn him around and have him face out over the square in a southeastwardly direction. It seemed bad enough to many old-time Spartanburg residents to move the general at all,but to have him face southward,as if he expected enemies to come from that direction,was even more unsettling.One resident summed up the feelings of many: "The general would not approve!" Nevertheless,the change was made in September 1960.This photograph shows Morgan being lowered from his pedestal in the middle of the square.The tall building to the left of the pedestal is the Andrews Building,now destroyed. (photo courtesy of B&B Studio)