Main Street #1

bpc45.jpg

Description

Main Street, Salisbury, N.C. Looking North East

In 1905, a street railway connected the city of Salisbury with Spencer, a town of growing importance.  About 1902 the Southern Development Company began building a new subdivision, Fulton Heights, located a mile south of Salisbury.  At the same time, Southern Railway was establishing the Spencer Shops, a major maintenance facility three miles northeast of Salisbury.  The Fulton Heights developers wanted a streetcar system that connected their new development to downtown Salisbury and Spencer.  Many managers of the railroad lived in Fulton Heights and could commute to work on the streetcar.  The system was strengthened by the continued expansion of the Spencer Shops and Fulton Heights, including the amusement park.  Fulton Heights became Salisbury’s first “street car suburb” and Mitchell Avenue included a central median to accommodate the streetcar line.  The streetcars ran until 1938. 

The tall building to the right of the streetcar was Purcell’s Drug Company.  The building was erected in 1859 and in addition to Purcell’s it has also been Kluttz’s Drug Store, People’s Drug Store and is now Spanky’s Homemade Ice Cream and Deli.  The brick building includes a cast iron store-front and cast iron awning.  This photograph was most likely taken from just outside Theo. Buerbaum’s storefront. 

No. A2100 – publ. by Theodore Buerbaum, Salisbury, N.C.  Germany

Source:

Hood, Davyd Foard The Architecture of Rowan County North Carolina: A Catalogue and History of Surviving 18th, 19th, and 20th Structures  Salisbury: Historic Salisbury Foundation, 2000

City History and City Form 

Turner Walter R. Development of Streetcar Systems in North Carolina https://www.nctrans.org/_nctm/files/5d/5db41427-0cb7-43b0-baf1-a6ecc54e46ae.pdf Link Opens to New Site

Creator

Theo Buerbaum

Rights

The materials in this collection are made available courtesy of Rowan Public Library for use in research and private study. Images and text may not be used without prior permission from Rowan Public Library, Edith M. Clark History Room.

Original Format

postcard

Citation

Theo Buerbaum, “Main Street #1,” Edith Clark History Room, accessed March 29, 2024, https://edithclark.omeka.net/items/show/81960.

Output Formats

Geolocation