Miller's Funeral Home

Historic Property

Alternate Name:

Vintage Music

Street Address:

318-320 Park Ave. SE, Aiken, SC (Aiken County)

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Site Number:

03_1477

Control Number:

U/03/1477

Date Surveyed:

October 28 2009

Category:

Building

Construction Date:

1904

Alteration Date:

circa 2000

Historic Use:

Commerce/Trade

Current Use:

Commerce/Trade

Historic Core Shape:

Rectangular

Number of Stories:

2

Construction Method:

masonry

Exterior Walls Materials:

Brick

Foundation Materials:

Not Visible

National Register Determination:

contributes to eligible district;

Signficant Architectural Features:

arched window openings; decorative brick bands at cornice. Prev. SHPO No. 268

Alterations:

Windows replaced; storefronts infilled and rebuilt

Historical Information:

Faces site of early train depot (shown on 1889 map) and is just west of the large depot built on Union Street at Park Avenue ca. 1895. The Park Avenue Hotel "the first tourist hotel in Aiken" faced the Park Avenue depot until burning about 1896; its dining room was located approximately along the rear half of this building. Rebuilding began soon after the fire, and this building was constructed in 1904. In 1909 a grocer was located in the right (east) half of the building, and a hand printer shop and undertaker shared the larger left section. (Said to have been the original location of Miller s_x000D_ Funeral Home now located at 156 Kershaw Street, one of two funeral homes serving Aiken's black community.) By 1918 an auto repair shop had replaced the grocer. [ See #340 for Miller's]

Source of Historical Information:

90 Years in Aiken County; Sanborn maps; Lillian Redd.

Survey:

City of Aiken Historic Resources Survey, Aiken County, South Carolina. May 2010

Quadrangle Name:

Aiken

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