James Building
National Register Listing
Street Address:
124-126 Main Street, Summerton, SC (Clarendon County)
Alternate Name:
Summerton Hardware, Summerton Hardware Company
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817714007
Description and Narrative:
The James Building, also known as Summerton Hardware or the Summerton Hardware Company, is significant for its association with Captain Joseph Alfred James (1866-1937), conductor on the Northwestern Railroad and longtime Summerton merchant, and architecturally as the best surviving intact example in Summerton of an early twentieth century commercial building with a cast-iron storefront. This imposing two-story brick building constructed in 1905 is one the few remaining commercial buildings with a cast-iron storefront on Main Street, which at one time was lined with such buildings. The fact that the building housed the telephone exchange and a hardware store is also significant as the building would have been a central focus of the town in the early twentieth century. The building contains two distinct storefronts and interior spaces with single-story sections to the rear. Three narrow brick vertical piers divide the two segments of the building's street level facade. Each of the storefronts features a traditional configuration of central canted entrances with flanking display windows. While bulkheads consist of raised wooden panels and windows and doors are framed in wood, the structural elements of the facade's first level are decorative cast iron pilasters decorated with ornate raised vines and other motifs. The cast iron lintel feature raised cast iron rosettes that serve to disguise the anchor bolts securing the cast iron elements of the facade to the remainder of the building's facade and structure. Listed in the National Register March 28, 2007.
Period of Significance:
1905
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
March 28 2007
