One-story commercial structure. Storefront altered. Applied wooden sign board rises up above roofline from just above storefront.
Photo from 1987.
Maxwell Store Building
Ca. 1910.
Two-story pressed brick building. Narrow mortar joints. Bold tin, heavily bracketed cornice below paneled brick parapet. Round and segmentally arched windows with fanlights. First floor covered with vertical wooden siding and a pent roof.
The April 1, 1909 French Broad Hustler records that, "The excavation for the Syndicate building on Main Street is finished and the foundation started." Maxwell Brown was a longtime proprietor in this store, operating a fancy grocery business.
HISTORIC MARKED PLACED 2009
Syndicate Building ca. 1909
Tenants of this two storefront building have been Maxwell Brown’s Fancy Groceries, Mitchell’s Grocery, Jack Schulman’s Clothing, and the Freeze Drug Co. The Woodman of the World Hall was upstairs.
Photos from 1987
1909.
Two-story brick commercial structure, obscured by aluminum facade. Modern storefront. Appears to have been built as the first part of the Clarke Hardware Company, mentioned as the "new Clarke building" in the French Broad Hustler of January 7, 1909, "scheduled to be completed by June 1, 1909."
(For more see 507 N. Main Street)
Photo from 1987.
1920s.
Two-story striated brick commercial structure, unadorned. Windows infilled and replaced with aluminum casements and shutters. Storefronts are new. Awnings over both.
Photos from 1987.
Photo from 1975
HISTORIC MARKER PLACED 2009:
Few Building 1925 Built by Dr. Columbus Few, a local surgeon and community leader, with shops on the street level and residences above. Designed by prominent local acrchitect Erle Stillwell. For many years, this building and the one to the north, served as an art action house.Summer auctions of jewelry, rugs, paintings, etc., were an important and entertaining part of summer life in the area from the 1940s thru the 1970s.
1909.
Two-story brick commercial structure, completely obscured by modern aluminum facade. Modern storefront. A large two-story commercial building occupying two 30-foot lots, this structure became a part of the Clarke Hardware Company.
In the January 7, 1909 edition of the French Broad Hustler, one can read that "W. A. Smith and Henry Jordan have let the contract for a new office building they will erect on Main Street, between Dr. Howe's office and the new Clarke building. The building will have 56'4" frontage and run back 115 to the alley. The cost will be $12,000, the building will be owned jointly by these two gentlemen and others, and will be built by Mr. Jordan. The excavation is now being made. This newest addition to Main Street will be two stories high, with a large basement suitable for business, and will set back a few feet from Main Street, sufficient to give entrance to the big basement. Pressed brick will be used on the front of the building and the store fronts will be of solid glass..."
The following May, a glowing description of this new store appeared in the French Broad Hustler (5/13/1909): "The Store would really be a credit to any large city. Outside the mere size, the pretty decorated walls of green, the white iron ceiling liberally dotted with electric lights, the modern store fixtures, impresses one forcibly with the fact that Hendersonville is certainly growing to number among its business enterprises so handsome and modern a business house as this. The floor space covers 7,015 square feet. The basement underneath the whole building is stocked with hardware, the entire ground floor is used as a salesroom, while upstairs are two seven-room flats, equipped with all modern conveniences, with hot and cold water in every room. The building is substantial--built to last, and is extremely handsome in appearance with its pressed brick front, its enormous plate glass windows, and large projecting [wrought iron] balconies."
HISTORIC MARKER PLACE 2009
Clarke Hardware Building ca. 1909
Built by W.A. Smith and Henry Jordan at a cost of $12,000. Tenants of the three storefronts have been Clarke Hardware, Bland Hardware, Gregg Bros Hardware, and for 65 years, Houston Furniture Company. The first gasoline pump on Main Street was located in front of this building.
Photo from 1987.