The Rock Hill Record of April 22, 1909 states – “The Catawba Real Estate Company is active in developing Woodland Park, which containing 150 building lots. Three new streets have been graded with sidewalks laid out, Jefferson Ave., Carolina Ave., and Heyward Streets. A pretty little park has been built, sodded and planted with flowers. J. M. White and J.M. Cherry are involved in this development. They have bought the Hudson property one the corner of Saluda and Johnston and will clear away the outbuildings to make the approach to Woodland Park more suitable.”
The Herald reported on Aug. 22, 1910 – “T.A. Crawford, Jr., has sold to Mr. Herbert S. Diehl a beautiful residential lot on Marion Street. A great deal of work is being carried on there and when completed it will be a street of beauty.”
Woodland Park and Marion Street The Herald on May 26, 1906 had an ad for the Woodland Park development, with a map. It shows lots on both on the South and North sides of Marion Street for sale and a floral garden on the corner of Marion and Saluda streets. The Herald reported on May 30, 1906 – That the opening auction sale of Woodland Park has taken place. J. Edgar Poag was the broker and he sold 22 lots for $5,652.50, he also sold seven houses for $589.50 (total). Later at a private sale, 16 lots were sold $3,175. Mr. Poag’s commission was $516.22. (We suggest this is the per house sale price.)
As Rock Hill experienced a period of very rapid growth, developers emerged who provided building lots and housing stock for the new residents. Beginning in the 1890s, the Rock Hill Land and Town Site Company developed the large Oakland section to the north of downtown. In 1906, James Spratt White, Jr. opened a new residential section known as Woodland Park, including a
number of residential lots along Saluda Street and several side streets, including two lots on each side at the eastern end of Marion Street. Woodland Park had the first cement sidewalks in Rock Hill and included several small parks, including the existing park at the corner of Saluda, Marion, and Center Streets. J. S. White was quite a salesman, and he held public auctions for the sale of lots. On May 30, 1906, an initial auction was held to open Woodland Park. This resulted in the sale of twenty-two lots and seven houses, with an additional sixteen lots being sold shortly thereafter. Later sections of Woodland Park were developed in 1909 and 1912, and development continued into the 1940s.
At the time of the development of Woodland Park, the rest of the Marion Street area was owned by Mrs. D. A. Johnston and the J. B. Johnson family. Beginning in 1910, the remainder of Marion Street was developed by Dr. J. B. Johnson. The street was extended to the west and eventually met with Hampton Street. Dr. Johnson named the street for his oldest daughter, Marion. Lots on Marion Street sold rapidly, and by 1912, a picture appeared in the Chamber of Commerce brochure showing a number of new houses on a treeless Marion Street.
Marion Street provided housing for the growing middle class in Rock Hill. It was within walking distance of the downtown area, which at that time housed almost all the businesses and services for the city. The early residents of Marion Street included doctors, a farmer, merchants, the founder of the Rock Hill Lumber
Company, textile superintendents, bankers, a newspaper editor, and investors in many of the developing business and industrial corporations. Several architectural styles are evident in the neighborhood. The earlier houses were mostly adaptations of the Classical revival Style. By 1915, several houses showed a mixture of Classical Revival and the emerging Bungalow/Craftsman style. By 1920, many houses were in the Bungalow style, especially on some of the streets surrounding Marion, such as Center Street.
Most of Marion Street and properties on Johnston Street and Center Street are included in the Marion Street Area Historic District, listed in the national Register of Historic Places.
Contributed and written by Paul M. Gettys
The Herald reported on Feb. 1, 1902 – “That J.M. Cherry, J.G. Anderson, Wade B. Roddey, and J.B. Creighton have applied for a charter for the Catawba Real Estate Company with a capital stock of $50,000.” (In 1908 the Rock Hill City Directory listed the Catawba Real Estate Co. at 103 East Main St., with J.M. Cherry as Pres., and J.S. White as Sec. – Treas.)
The RH Record of Nov. 19, 1908 reported that – “Mr. James S. White met with a peculiar accident yesterday morning. It seems a wire had been stretched across Saluda Street, where ditch diggers are working on the new water mains. Mr. White, not seeing the wire and being on his bicycle, ran plum into the wire badly cutting his left arm above the wrist.”
A full page ad appeared in the Herald on May 1, 1909 announcing an auction for 125 lots in Woodland Park. The auction was to take place on May 25. The owner is listed as Catawba Real Estate Company and the selling agent is the People’s Trust Company. The lots were on Carolina, Jefferson, Arlington, Heyward, and State street. The add stated that 100 shade trees had been set out and new sidewalks, flower gardens, streets laid out.
The RH Record July 22, 1909 reported – “Mr. J.P. Creighton and his mother and family are living in their new home on Marion Street.” (The 1908-09 City Directory simply gives their address at Woodland Park.)
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