Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
1906. "Main Street -- Summerville, South Carolina." 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
What interests me in these street scenes are the grand-buildings that still survive, in a country where tearing down the old is a way of life. The 1897 O.C. Sires building with its unusual tab-like permanent "Post Office" and "O.C. Sires & Bro" signs is apparently still there, though no longer housing either. Same goes for the neoclassical shop building with its triple, center arch second-floor windows over four storefronts.
The tree-lined area remains, sandwiched between Little Main and S Main St. It includes Hutchinson Square, a park in the city center. The colorful train depot toward the back of the image is no more.
Summerville was a peacful little town in 1900 with a population of only about 2400 people.There are now an estimated 58,000 people in it.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5