Melrose Heights-Oak Lawn-Fairview Historic District
National Register Listing
Street Address:
Bounded by Butler and Princeton Sts., Maiden Ln., Michigan St. and Millwood Ave., Woodrow and King Sts., Kirby, Trenholm Rd., Longleaf Rd., Columbia, SC (Richland County)
Alternate Name:
Melrose Heights
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817740163
Description and Narrative:
The Melrose Heights-Oak Lawn-Fairview Historic District is a collection of 607 contributing buildings, including historic outbuildings, and 185 non-contributing buildings, including non-contributing outbuildings, and 24 non-contributing structures located a mile and a half east of Columbia’s original city limits. The neighborhoods of Melrose Heights and Oak Lawn emerged in the early 20th century, beginning with the efforts of the Powell family to subdivide and develop the land. The period of significance for the Melrose Heights-Oak Lawn-Fairview Historic District is 1900 to 1965. The beginning date correlates with the earliest official effort by the Powell family to incorporate the new suburb, while the ending date is associated with the neighborhood’s waning new construction by the mid-1960s. The Melrose Heights-Oak Lawn-Fairview Historic District is laid out in three distinct patterns of development, the westernmost section, historically referred to as Fairview, is defined by rectangular blocks, Melrose Heights is primarily composed of square blocks, and Oak Lawn is a mixture of square and rectangular blocks. Buildings in the district represent many distinct architectural styles and forms from the early- to mid-twentieth century. These styles and forms include Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Prairie School, Bungalow/Craftsman, Airplane Style Bungalow, Ranch, Bungalow, Minimal Traditional, Kit Homes, and American Foursquare. Several real estate development companies contributed to the emergence of the neighborhood from 1900-1940. These developers included the Fairview Realty Company, Melrose Heights Development Company, Oak Lawn Development Company, The Ideal Home Company, Bagnal-Nettles Development Company, and the Holly Realty Company. Additionally, the district includes one park (Melrose Park). The district was listed under Criterion A in the area of community planning/development and under Criterion C in the areas of architecture and landscape architecture. Listed in the National Register November 2, 2016.
Period of Significance:
1900 – 1965
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Architecture;Community Planning and Development;Landscape Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
November 2 2016
