Some locals and Greenville natives can remember the handsome “old” city hall that stood on the corner of South Main and West Broad streets. It’s deep-red color and classical, Romanesque style were radically (and tragically) replaced in 1973 with the minimal look of the current structure on the west side of South Main Street bordering Court Square. Fewer Greenvillians remember the older city hall that served the community for 59 years on the corner of West McBee Avenue and South Laurens Street.
Postwar growth in 1870s Greenville saw the coming of the first bank, textile mills on the Reedy Falls, the Air Line Railroad and many new downtown brick buildings. Another sign of the city’s growth came with the building of a handsome new city hall in 1879 at the northeast corner of West McBee Avenue and South Laurens Street. The contractor was likely Jacob Cagle, who was also busy building, among other things, the Second-Empire home of Charles Lanneau Jr. (now on Belmont Avenue) and his own Tudor mansion (now on Crescent Avenue), both near Augusta Road.
The two-story Italianate brick building was accented by a 2½-story tower, set off diagonally at the corner facing the street intersection. In 1883, a larger 4½-story tower was added with Romanesque windows on the bottom three floors, circular and gothic windows on the fourth floor, and a roof that looked a lot like the later roof of the Southern Railway station on West Washington. The old tower was replaced to accommodate an almost-2,000-pound bell, which rang on the hour throughout the day to inform locals of the hourly time. A dedicated bell ringer was hired for $20 per month to perform this service, but the job was switched a few years later to the building’s janitor. Just five years later, the tall tower proved to be unstable and was shortened back to two and a half stories. By 1911, this tower was deteriorating, and a new 63-foot steel tower was built to hold the large bell (see arrow pointing it out in photo). Besides serving as the town clock and ringing on the hour, the bell also sounded alarms for the fire department that was also in the building as well as the police department. Additional enlargements in 1911 were made to expand the police department and add a city council chamber space.
In 1938 the city took advantage of the opportunity to buy the former post office building on the northwest corner of West McBee and South Main Street from the federal government. All city hall offices moved into the old 1892 post office building, but new structures were built next to it on West Broad to house the police station and fire department.
John M. Nolan is owner of Greenville History Tours (greenvillehistorytours.com) and author of “A Guide to Historic Greenville, SC” and “Lost Restaurants of Greenville, SC.”
