Treasured Places
Greensboro's Most Treasured Places Treasured Places Watch List
There are few places that evoke such a diverse sense of Southern American history as Greensboro. The cultural center of the Society of Friends in the South gave birth to such notable personalities as plucky First Lady Dolley Madison, the enigmatic writer O. Henry, and pioneering broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. However, Greensboro's historical legacy is not limited solely to personalities. The city has long been home to a large and vibrant African American population, Southern Industrialists, and numerous institutions of higher learning.
Greensboro was established in the warm, temperate forests of the southern piedmont, an area sought by early European settlers for its rich soil and affordable land. By the 1750s the area was home to African Freedmen and slaves, English Quakers, German Calvinists, and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. Early architecture in the region reflected some of this diversity, ranging from medieval Germanic log houses to Federal brick Quaker homes.
Transition from a primarily agrarian society to an industrial economy began in the 1850s with the arrival of two improved transportation routes: the Great Fayetteville and Western Plank Road, and the North Carolina Railroad. These two vital trade routes into the Carolina Piedmont crossed in High Point, and provided efficient means of transporting goods to seaports for export. This new economic era sparked a housing revolution in the region by providing citizens increased income that was often invested in improving their homes, shops, and civic structures.
Economic and social upheaval of the Civil War capped growth in the region until industrialists tapped the area's low-wage labor pool, efficient transportation system, and abundant cotton and tobacco resources. With growth of the textile and cigarette industry in the late nineteenth century, Greensboro's population surged. This growth resulted in the development of one of Greensboro's hallmarks: charming and well-defined neighborhoods such as College Hill, Bellemeade, Fisher Park, and Aycock. A low-income housing crisis was averted through establishment of self-contained mill villages throughout the city that served burgeoning textile mills. The era also saw growth of service sector jobs along South Elm Street, illustrated by ambitious projects such as the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Headquarters, celebrated as the city's first skyscraper.
A strong following of Protestant residents led to the development of several institutions of higher learning in Greensboro, including the Quaker's Guilford College (1837), the United Methodist's Greensboro College (1838), and the Methodist Episcopalian's Bennett College for Women (1873). Two nonsectarian state funded schools joined the trio in 1891. The North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University was established for African American students, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro created for white women. All five campuses chronical phases of American collegiate architecture, including newcomer Elon University which established a downtown campus in 2006.
The 1920s witnessed maturation of Greensboro's highly profitable textile interests. This profitable era launched Greensboro's Golden Era of architecture, witnessed by grand housing, elaborate religious structures, spacious parks and civic structures, and meticulous neighborhoods of middle-income and worker's housing. Many examples from this era are celebrated today for defining Greensboro's architectural identity.
Ever ebullient, Greensboro enthusiastically adopted progressive Modernist architecture earlier than most southern cities. Buoyed by modern examples designed by architects Walter Gropius, Edward Loewenstein, and Edward Jenkins, the city was quick to exemplify the progressive "New South" of the mid-twentieth century. Several examples of modernist design survive in the city, many by notable national and international architects.
As Greensboro's nineteenth century rail system facilitated the city's twentieth century manufacturing renaissance, industrial wealth has endowed the city's foundations and educational institutions to great success. The city contains an inordinate number of generous foundations that sponsor the development of parks, athletic facilities, academic programs, and community arts initiatives. With fewer headquarters and more back-office operations, Greensboro's future lies increasingly with its colleges and universities. The year 2008 will be Greensboro's bicentennial, and though the city struggles to assimilate its current identity with its future potential, its soul is indelibly written in the facades and history of its treasured places.
