The beginning of a new year means making lots of plans for what we hope to accomplish and experience during the 366 (leap year) days that lie ahead of us for 2016.
Looking into our retro crystal ball, if we lived in Winston-Salem in 1916, what would we have on the horizon to experience during the year?
100 years ago…1916!
***In February, the Winston-Salem Rotary Club was chartered and became the first civic luncheon club for the city. Happy 100th birthday to the Rotary Club!
***In April, F. W. Woolworth opened a store at 408-410 N. Liberty Street. The photo above shows the building in 1938, with the Nissen Building at the left. The store also had a side entrance onto W. Fourth Street. It was located between Pollocks Shoes and the Nissen Building in the 1950 photo shown above. Currently the former F. W. Woolworth building is being renovated.
***In April, the Elks Auditorium (shown above) and the Neil Hotel, located side-by-side on N. Liberty Street, caught fire and burned. The Elks Auditorium was rebuilt as the Auditorium Theatre, which became the State Theatre, which later became State Furniture. This building can be seen near the center of the 1958 parade photo shown above.
***In April, on the same day as the Elks Auditorium fire, the Gilmer Building opened for business on N. Liberty Street. Hutchins Drug Store became a tenant in the building in July. James A. Hutchins was the proprietor.
***In July, Richard Joshua and Katharine Reynolds entertained at Reynolda Estate, hosting a barbecue and reception for the officers and salesmen of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The events took place near Lake Katharine, as their house was under construction.
***In August, Anchor Company established a store at 213-215 W. Fourth Street. The business later relocated on W. Fourth Street, across from Trade Street, next to J. C. Penney’s. When J. C. Penney’s built their own multi-story building on the corner of W. Fourth and Marshall Streets, Anchor Company expanded into the former J. C. Penney’s space.
***In December, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company announced plans to establish a day nursery for the under-school-age children of women employees. The nursery was scheduled to open the first of 1917 in the former home of Rev. Dr. H. A. Brown on E. Second Street. The nursery was conveniently located near the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company factories. It was located to the east of the First Baptist Church (see church marked with the letter “B” on the map), near the intersection of East Second and Chestnut Streets.
Black and white photos courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection. Colored postcard courtesy of Molly Grogan Rawls.
Stay tuned for the next historical post on February 1st.
