Historic Sanford Downtown
Walking Tour
The Historic
Sanford Downtown Walking Tour was produced under the direction of Downtown
Sanford, Inc. and the Travel & Tourism Committee of the Sanford
Area Chamber of Commerce. The audio tour, which is available at the
Chamber of Commerce, was written by Chip Pate, who also designed the
map,
and was narrated by Tim Morrissey.
1.
OLD CITY HALL 143 Charlotte Avenue
Built by local contractor Joe W. Stout using bricks supplied by Goldston
Brick Company, the building was begun in 1909 and completed in 1910.
In addition to providing meeting space for official town business, the
upstairs assembly hall provided meeting space for various groups. The
municipal building also served as home to Sanford's volunteer fire department.
The front elevation is dominated by a three story stair tower with circular
windows, corbeling, belt courses, a dome like rood, and a circular lantern
supported by round columns set against arcading. Other features include
a metal sheathed hip roof with a reticulated balustrade, segmental arched
and square headed window and door openings. A one story brick wing was
added in 1950. The steel front once had arched fire wagon doors; these
have been filled in.
2. COCA-COLA
BUILDING 131 Charlotte Avenue c. 1908
A bottling works structure was shown at this site on the 1908 Sanborn
Maps. It appears that the early building was remodeled to the current
appearance during the 1920s. the property consists of two structures.
The one story brick building is simple in design and detail with a corbeled
and sawtooth brick cornice and second band of corbeling above the shopfront.
The shopfront consists of two large windows with transoms flanking an
entrance with a transome and sidelight. The adjacent structure has a
blond brick façade and molded terra cotta surrounds framing the
windows and doors. Above the second floor windows are terra cotta panels
with stepped sides, three containing Coca-Cola bottles in relief and
the larger fourth one containing the Coca-Cola logo. The cornice features
molded terra cotta with sawtooth openings framing tiny Coco-Cola bottles.
These terra cotta geometric designs are beige, brown, green, and yellow,
reflecting the building trends of the 1920s.
3. CAROLINA
HOTEL 100-104 Carthage Street 1930
This four story dominates this portion of the district. The structure
has evenly proportioned paired windows between each bay on all floors
above the first floor. At the center of the second story is a large
sweeping arch framing a French door that opens onto a brick and wrought
iron balcony. On both sides of this center arch is a triple arch of
brick headers with a griffin motif in the center arch. Other arches
wrapping the building at the first floor elevation have various motifs,
such as quatrefoils, diamonds, and crosses.
4. TEMPLE
THEATER 120 Carthage Street c. 1925
For several decades after its grand opening on March 2, 1925, the Temple
served the area as a grand cinema and vaudeville house. The theatre
closed in the 1960s, but it was remodeled and reopened in the 1980s
and today serves as Lee County's premier playhouse. Designed by Henderson
architect Eric G. Flanagan and constructed by the Joe W. Stout Company
of Sanford, the Temple is an eclectic blend of Classical elements. Representative
of theaters built across the country during the 1920s, it has a two
story façade of buff colored brick trimmed in white molded terra
cotta. A variety of decorative brickwork , modillion cornice, a central
panel with swag motif, and reticulated grilles over the two openings
flanking the central panel adorn the exterior. The interior features
stenciled plaster walls in floral and urn patterns and a pressed metal
ceiling.
5. MASONIC
TEMPLE, 1924
6. OLD
POST OFFICE, 1936-37
7. BOWEN
MOTORS NE Corner of Horner Boulevard & Carthage Street
c. 1925
This large one story brick building with a basement is associated with
the early years of automobile sales and service. The façade and
west elevation (Horner Boulevard side) feature a Spanish Mission style
stepped and arched parapet capped with beveled concrete coping. The
west elevation is distinguished by two ranks of five large arched windows
flanking three smaller arched blind windows. Molded terra cotta name
blocks occur on the front and rear elevations flanked by spiked circles
of terra cotta.
8. MAKEPEACE
BUILDING 101-115 South Steele Street 1924
The Makepeace family has been important to the industrial and commercial
life of Sanford for many years, having opened the Sanford Sash and Blind
Company prior to 1890. The façade of this two story brick commercial
building has a narrow cent4ral bay flanked by two bays on each side.
Each bay is composed of two sets of paired windows. The bays are separated
by brick pilasters capped by simple classical capitals. At the cornice,
the bay divisions are marked by blond brick laid in rectangles; stone
spheres on plinths mark bay divisions at the roofline. The central bay
contains an entrance for the second floor offices and features a pediment
at the roofline. Below the pediment is a terra cotta panel bearing the
name "Makepeace" and the date "1924."
9. LEE
FURNITURE, 1925
10. STROUD-HUBBARD
SHOE STORE 112 South Steele Street 1928
In 1910, E.B. Stroud and A. M. Hubbard joined forces as the Stroud &
Hubbard shoe store. In 1928, they employed L.M. Thompson to design and
Joe W. Stout to build the two story brick store on Steele Street. the
façade is a playful combination of Gothic and Tudor architecture.
Architectural details are done in terra-cotta; slender lancet arched
recess in piers flank the facode. Five heavy mullioned windows are grouped
under a single label molding, and the quatrefoils and shields in the
panel under the parapet. The display windows have copper mullions and
the low wall under them is capped by a row of blue and white terra-cotta
rosettes. Inside, the store features, pressed metal ceilings, wooden
shelves and counters, a mezzanine, and a dumbwaiter (bearing L. M Thompson's
signature) for lifting merchandise from the basement to the upper story.
11. WILRIK
HOTEL 204 Wicker Street 1925
The tallest structure in the district, this six story building displays
restrained ornamentation, relying on mass to dominate the area. The
façade of the first and second floors is covered with granite
and capped with a molded cornice. The upper four stories are of brick,
with the fifth and sixth floors divided by a horizontal stone band.
Above the sixth floor a green tile skirt roof is supported by brackets
with diamond shaped stones between each bracket. Tripartite windows
in arched openings mark the second floor, while those on the upper floors
are paired one over one sash with concrete sills and soldier course
lintels. Even though the upper floors have been renovated, the egg and
dart molding has been retained in the foyers and hallways of the public
areas.
12. BOWERS
BUILDING 209 South Steele Street-137 Wicker Street 1925
This two story, blond brick commercial structure originally housed the
U.S. Post Office. The Steele Street elevation consists of five bays
separated by brick pilasters. With the exception of the two southernmost
first floor bays, each area between each pilaster is marked by three
windows on each floor. The Wicker Street elevation has three central
bays flanked by narrow bays with entrances to the second floor. The
central bays consist of display windows flanking a recessed entrance
on the first floor and triple windows of three over one sash. The three
bays are separated by pilasters which rise to classical capitals. Each
bay is topped by a molded terra cotta band with egg and dart molding.
Above the Wicker Street entrance is a panel decorated with a scrolled
shield.
13. COMMERCIAL
BUILDINGS, 1915-26
14. COMMERCIAL
BUILDINGS, 1910s
15. CONNOR
SMITH BUILDING, 1909
16. PASSENGER
DEPOT Carthage Street between Moore & Chatham Streets,
southwest of the Railroad House. c. 1910
A typical one story brick railroad depot with wide overhanging red tile
roof with flared eaves Supported by large wooden brackets with onion-shaped
pendants. Small projecting gables mark the ends of the building while
a central gable with palladian window marks the façade. Three
paneled chimneys rise at regular intervals through the roof ridge. The
building was renovated in 1976 for use as the Lee County Senior Citizen
Center. It now houses the Sanford Area Board of Realtors.
17. RAILROAD
HOUSE 110 Carthage Street. c. 1872
A one and one-half story board and batten Gothic Revival cottage built
for the first depot agent for the Raleigh and Augusta Railroad line
in the new community of Sanford. Cross bracing and finial ornament the
gables of the main roof, the two from dormers, and the entrance bay
porch. The latter is supported by square posts with raised panels. A
paneled and crenellated chimney rises at the center of the main block,
while a massive crenellated chimney rises on the exterior of the end
of the rear ell. The house was moved to its present location in 1962
and converted for use as the offices of the Sanford-Lee County Chamber
of Commerce. It now serves as a museum containing hundreds of interesting
artifacts.
18.
SANFORD BUGGY COMPANY, 1907
