Spartanburg: Part II

[Spartan]

These are some historic postcards that I came accross-

A view of North Church St

The view today

Spartanburg used to be known as "Hub City" due to its prime location as a rail hub for the region. This was the passenger station.

This was the old county library built back in the late 60s. It has since been rennovated and doesn't look near as bad.

This is the current Spartanburg County Main Library

This is the old COunty Courthouse... beautiful no?

This is the new and current courthouse they built to replace it. Notice any difference? The location of the old court house is now an empty lot. It has a nice Magnolia tree on it though.

The old First Baptist Curch. It burnt down- they have a nice brick one now.

A shot of the Daniel Morgan monument in Morgan Square. Those buldings are no longer there.

This is what is on that lot now.

The Hotel Finch- destroyed.

The Hotel Finch was razed so that this could be built.

Hotel Cleveland- destroyed.

THe Gresham Hotel- destroyed.

Central Methodist Church- its still there.

Do you notice a pattern with this city's buildings? Spartanburg used to have many more tall bulidings than it does today. Most of which I can't find any pictures of. For some reason we were quick to destroy some of these beautiful buildings.

[wolverine]

That is sad that some of those tall buildings were destroyed. They would have really added to the downtown's character. However, I like the new Morgan square building, as well as the new library. It incorporates more classic elements of architecture. Man, wouldn't the architects of the 60's library been suprised! That's okay, they didn't know any better than, just like the architects of the "new" courthouse. Here in Saginaw, MI, we had a courthouse very similar to the old one you showed. Today, a plain 4 story box sits on the site. But it has beautiful trees as well!

As you can see now, I'm quite the architecture critic, considering I'm studying to become one right now. But anyone can tell you that the older buildings are far more beautiful with their detail. It's good to see that Spartanburg is incorporating this into their most recent structures.

[Spartan]

Yeah, my only quam with that new one is that it didn't incorporate any space for commercial retail and restaurants.