This Building Has History ™
Name: McCrory’s and the Woolworth Building
Architect: UN
Builder: James S. White / A.D. Holler Contractor
Constructed: Ca. 1902
This lot was purchased by Captain W.L. Roddey from A.T. Black in 1867 for $400. Roddey then sold the property to Ferguson H. Barber a year later. Barber, a highly successful merchant, built a large frame storehouse here, and then took into partnership John R. Allen, creating the firm of Allen and Barber. Barber, who was the first mayor of Rock Hill, also erected a large frame residence on a portion of this lot. Interestingly, the western line of this property has remained the same since it was first laid down in 1851.
After a few years, the Barbers moved to a larger residence on the corner of Hampton and Main Streets, and the Allen’s acquired the former Barber house as their home. Following John R. Allen’s death, the property was sold off in sections. A portion of lot 5 was bought by James S. White, who built a two-story building for the Rock Hill Supply Company, and was in later years the McCrory building. The remaining portions were sold to William Crosby and James S. White, and the Barber heirs. A large brick building was eventually built on the combined portions, becoming the F.W. Woolworth Company. Please open the additional information attachment to read an extensive history of the Civil Rights movement called the Friendship Nine.
The Herald reports several changes for this land throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s, including a Building Loan Association, the Moore-Sykes Company, a millinery business, and the Prudential Life Insurance Company. In 1935 the Woolworths’s reopened in a new building, following a fire the previous year. In 2015, the Woolworth Building was demolished to make room for a new apartment complex on Main Street.
McCrory’s and Woolworth’s from Roots and Recall on Vimeo.
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