Stradley and Barr Dry Goods Store
National Register Listing
Street Address:
14 S. Main Street, Greenville, SC (Greenville County)
Alternate Name:
Efird's Department Store
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817723063
Description and Narrative:
The Stradley and Barr Dry Goods Store is significant as an excellent and largely intact example of late nineteenth century Romanesque Revival commercial architecture. It is also significant for its role in the development and evolution of the South Main Street business district in Greenville from the late nineteenth through the mid twentieth centuries. Built ca. 1898, this three-story-with-basement brick building possesses numerous architectural features typical of the Romanesque Revival style and was one of downtown Greenville’s most prominent commercial buildings when completed. Among the most notable features are its prominent elongated windows lined and arched on the second and third floors. The second floor windows are capped with granite flat arches, while the third floor windows feature ashlar round arches. Granite lintels and patterned brickwork further accent these windows. Belt courses emphasize the division of the upper floors. The top of the building has a distinctive stone and masonry parapet with dentils and the original flagstaff. Beneath the parapet and running the entire length of the facade are small inset stone arches and Doric columns accenting the building’s handsome exterior. The interior of the building is characterized by exposed masonry walls, pressed-metal ceilings, and turned load-bearing columns. As Greenville’s economy expanded in the post-Civil War era, the South Main Street corridor became the heart of the city’s business district, including grocery stores, tobacco shops, banks, drug stores, bookstores, clothiers, and hotels. This building housed the Stradley and Barr Dry Goods Store until 1919 when it became home to Efird’s Department Store. Listed in the National Register June 24, 2008.
Period of Significance:
circa 1898
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
June 24 2008
