City Directories and History: Circa 1910: The Bank of Fairfield and W.A. Hood & Company
Listed as #27 South Congress St. on Sanborn Map this is now the parking lot for government services.
The Fairfield News and Herald reported on Feb. 6, 1884 – “The firm of Gooding and Elliott, is dissolved by mutual consent on Feb. 1, 1884. Partners are T.K. Elliott and R.C. Gooding.”
In the present day open parking lot in front of the county office annex building was the first home of the A&P Grocery managed by Mr. J. B. Hegler for many years and this was the first “chain store” supermarket in town before it was moved to the annex building and then to the 321 Bypass ( the Department of Social Services location) for its third store location in the-1980’s. The next storefront was the 1930 location of Mr. Yank Brice’s “Wigwam”, combining a
pool room and beer parlor after the repeal of prohibition in 1934. Adjoining this “pool room” was the U.S. Post Office which in the late 1930’s moved to its current home. Above these establishments were office spaces which in the early part of the Twentieth Century housed the telephone exchange run by the “Central” operator Mrs. Stover. Mr. Tom McDonald’s law office and Dr.
David Aiken’s dental practice filled other of these office spaces accessed by the cast iron stair at the rear of First Citizen’s Bank. The imposing First Citizen’s Bank was built as the Bank of Winnsboro which at its failure in the depression of the 1930’s became the Merchants and Planters Bank. [Courtesy of J.M. Lyles]
One source states this building was dedicated to a hotel owned and operated by J. Frank Fooshe and that George B. McMaster also had a store in the brick three story building. However, there is no documentation on this information.
Reminiscences of Old Winnsboro by P. Rion – 1905 states, “The Bank Building (brick two story) was built by David Aiken the grandfather of Dr. David Aiken and the second story was occupied by Joseph D. Aiken.” Note below the 1905 Sanborn map shows this as the location of the Winnsboro National Bank which was housed in the Aiken’s brick building with the handsome front piazza.
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