City Directories and History: Under construction from 1912 to 1914, the Eau Claire Town Hall served until 1928 as offices for the American Lutheran Survey, a weekly publication with national circulation. Walton H. Greever, a Lutheran minister who edited the Survey, was responsible for having the building constructed. Greever, who also taught at the nearby Lutheran Seminary, developed much of the Eau Claire section. After the Survey folded in 1928, the building served as the seat of government for the Town of Eau Claire until 1955 when Eau Claire merged with the City of Columbia. Designed by J. Carroll Johnson of the firm of Urquhart and Johnson of Columbia, the structure is a distinctive early twentieth century commercial building with use of decorative concrete and tile, a four-story tower, and an asymmetrical plan to fit the shape of the lot. The first floor features segmentally arched bays: five each on the east and west sides and two on the south side. Corners on the south side of the building, and on the tower, are canted. The building has wide overhanging eaves, wooden brackets, and a tile roof. The original tile roof of the tower has been replaced with tin. Constructed shortly after completion of the Town Hall building, the Survey Publishing Company Building housed a printing plant. A one-story brick building, it has many of the decorative features of the larger building. Listed in the National Register March 2, 1979. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History]
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