Historic Greenville

Historic Greenville. Lafayette Street. The Knights and Ladies of the Maccabees, a once prominent social group in Greenville, perform a drill routine in front of the former Jacobson's store located at 314 to 318 South Lafayette Street. The streets are dirt in this picture, indicating the photo was taken prior to 1910 when paving of streets first occurred in Greenville., This more modern photo shows these buildings as they looked around 1940. The Slawson building (farthest left peak) located al 300 South Lafayette Street can be seen in both photographs. This building was constructed in 1887 for George W. Slawson and was home to a pharmacy for many years., On the southwest side of Washington Street sits the present Greenville City Hall and Department of Public Safety building. This photo from 1872 shows the first fire station that sat at the location. Judd Macomber, an early mayor of Greenville played an important role in securing the fire wagon shown here., The addresses from 317 to 323 South Lafayette Street have had a long history of hospitality. The Shearer Hotel and Tavern was the first hotel to sit at this location, built in 1848. This 1873 photo shows Keith's Exchange Hotel, the next hotel to occupy the location. Keith's Exchange burned down in 1887 and was replaced by the Phelp's Hotel. The Phelp's Hotel burned in 1982 and was torn down., This 1876 photo shows downtown Greenville from its point of origin at the intersection of Lafayette and Washington Streets where the first public square was built. When the city was platted on January 14, 1853, Greenville expanded from this intersection to the north. The Fargo and Belknap building (closest right) located at 330 to 332 South Lafayette was the first commercial building to be constructed of brick in 1869. The clay for the bricks was mined at Clay and Fairplains streets and fired in a kiln located on Bracey Road.