Archive for the ‘historic’ tag
Columbia Drill Tower, Park Street: 1980s(?) 5 comments
Waller's Grocery, Leesburg Road: 1973 14 comments
I really don't know anything about this building on Leesburg Road near James Browder Road. It does have that classic "country general store" look though. From the construction, I would guess that it was built pre-war. Even the electrical connection with the obvious insulators has kind of a 1930s look. The closing date I assigned, 1960s, is a total guess. The place has obviously not seen any maintenance in quite a while, but it could have easily lasted into the 1970s or even longer. Even today, the area is very rural, and some odd retail establishements (like Mr. Bunky's on the Sumter Highway) still survive.
Lorick & Lowrance Mercantile / The Bank of Columbia / The Argyle Social Club, 1537 Main Street: late 2000s 3 comments
OK, I'm not entirely sure what to make of this one. The Lorick & Lowrance Mercantile Building is another of those great old Main Street buildings, with all the fancy work on top, and is on the City of Columbia landmark list.
I don't know what Lorick & Lowrance Mercantile originally sold, but the name suggests general retail merchandise. Anyway, it seems prosaic enough.
Where it gets a little odd is with the introduction of the Columbia Atheneum and Argyle Social Club. If you go to the "history" tab on this site, you'll find the story of a 150 year old Columbia high-rollers club "[whose] location has been kept hidden from the general public" -- It almost sounds like a put-on, your 2nd grade secret-clubhouse on steroids..
At any rate, the plan apparently was to come out of hiding, sell shares and buy the Lorick building. (There's a litle more information here). Since this was all supposed to happen in 2007 and the building is for lease today, I would say that something went wrong.
Interestingly, the building now has its own web site..
Hi Hatt Drive In aka The Hi Hatt Club, 3830 Forest Drive: 1973 75 comments
UPDATE 7 June 2016 -- Many thanks to commenter Mandy for sending these pictures of the Hi Hatt:
Original post:
Well, there have been a lot of people over the past few years urging me to do this post. I have always put it off up until now as I have no personal memories of The Hi Hatt Club, and though I must have seen it many times up until I was 12, I cannot even recall the building. I was always hoping that I would run across a picture of the club, or would find an old ad that I could use to hang a post on, but that seems destined not to happen, so I will go with what I have been able to establish, and by consolidating various mentions made of the place in the comments.
Here's what I found out by looking through old phone directories last week. The Hi Hatt Club first appears in the Columbia Southern Bell listings in the August 1957 directory. The last time it was listed was in the December 1972 directory. At the start of its run, the phone number was given as SU-7-9143. That number was retained in each directory though with the advent of direct dialing the prefix changed from Sunset to became 787-9143. The name the club used for its directory listing was always Hi Hatt Drive In, and it listed under Clubs in the Yellow Pages though it never bought a Yellow Pages ad.
Given that other sources state that the club started in the 1930s, I'm not sure why listings only started in 1957. I suppose that in those days not every road-house felt it needed a phone, or perhaps the listing was under another name.
Here's what the Town of Forest Acres says on their web site in what seems to be a semi-official history of the town:
The town limits formed an irregular rectangle that paralleled Forest Drive. The original area of incorporation was two square miles with the northern and southern boundaries lying one half mile on each side of the road. The eastern boundary ran north to south a thousand feet to the east of Gill Creek. The western boundary lay two miles to the west paralleling the eastern boundary. The boundaries did not change right away, but over the years the city grew to the east and primarily to the north. Forest Acres was planned to be a residential area. Existing businesses were grandfathered in, but new businesses were not to be opened. Because of loopholes in the laws, this was not enforceable. To the chagrin of the local residents, the old Bethel School at the comer of Forest Drive and Landmark Drive (3830 Forest Drive) had closed, and the Hi Hatt (pronounced High Hat) Club had opened in the building. The Hi Hatt Club, an early form of nightclub, was in the area in 1935. The city founders would have liked to have seen it close, but it managed to stay open. Over the years, especially in the 1960's, the Hi Hatt Club was rumored to be a place of prostitution, or a "whore house," as such operations were called. Mothers shielded their children from it, but the Hi Hatt Club's reputation made it a big source of interest and a hot topic of conversation for teenage boys. Frowns and concern could never close it, but a good financial offer to purchase the land to construct office buildings finally brought it to an end. The city officials, from the beginning on, wanted only wholesome businesses in the area with protection and privacy for the nearby residential properties.
Here's a bit of information on the appearance of the club from commenter FirstDennis:
Does ANYbody remember the Hi Hat Club on Forest Drive, not too far from Beltline? I asked William Price Fox about it, because he is a wealth of info on stuff like this, but he cannot recall it. I swear I’m not making it up, though. It was a white wooden building. Had a neon sign shaped like a top hat.
Commenter BR suggests the place was informally known as Goldie's:
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Commenter Michael Taylor passes along this information from his uncle:
Hi-Hat Club update: My 91 year old uncle is the last remaining person of that generation alive for me personally, and I’ve been hitting him up for city history a little at a time so as not to wear him out. The latest nugget should tickle all the “Hi-Hatters” out there. Dig this, before it was a honky tonk the building was a 2-room schoolhouse and my uncle went there for a bit. Unfortunately he is not a photographer and doesn’t even have a photograph of his old garden center. Oy vey!
Something a little less certain that I remember from my father talking about the Hi Hat Club back when it was still a working honky tonk in the 1960s is his insistence that a couple of scenes for the cult Robert Mitchum movie “Thunder Road” were filmed there in 1958 or so. According to this wikipedia entry for the movie, most of the principle filming was done in Asheville, NC, so this at least puts the production crew to within a few hours drive. It’s not uncommon to film several locations for one final composited location. In other words, if you were filming a honky tonk scene, you may film the interior of some place on the outskirts of Asheville and the exterior of some distinctive juke joint in the suburbs of Columbia SC and then edit them to look seamless. It seems excessive, but often one place looks better on the outside and the other place looks better on the inside and because they can, film crews do this stitching all the time and you’d never know it.
Going against my father’s story is that the South Carolina film database doesn’t have “Thunder Road” listed, however it mostly lists the films that have been primarily filmed here. It does list a “Thunder In Carolina” stock car movie (with Rory Calhoun and Alan Hale, Jr., the skipper from “Gilligan’s Island) filmed in Darlington in 1960, which my father could have been confusing with “Thunder Road”. But on the side of a film crew having filmed a few scenes at the Hi-Hat Club for “Thunder Road,” here is an interview with Mitchum’s son James on the 50th anniversary of the film where he mentions that some of the inspiration came from their South Carolina cousins’ moonshining and fast driving. I could see Mitchum coming down the short drive from Asheville for some scenes at the Hi-Hat Club, it was such a wild looking little honky tonk. I suppose one way to solve this would be to rent both movies and watch them with hawk eyes and keep an eye out for that crazy neon sign on top of the club. And speaking of signs, wonder what ever happened to that sign, bet it’s at the bottom of a trash heap somewhere.
I can see that place in my mind’s eye just as clearly as this computer screen, but sadly, 41 years or more later it’s not enough, especially with websites like this. Right this very moment there is a box of photographs with photos of places like the Hi-Hat Club and YOU may know the person who has them.
Comments from anyone who actually visited the club are welcome (and you can be anonymous if it really was an establisment of ill-repute at some point :-)! Pictures would be great too..
UPDATE 14 Dec 2010: I got the Montgomery book for my birthday. You can get it here:
Anyway, there is a section on the Hi-Hatt Club. To answer some questions asked here:
1) Yes, 'Goldie' was the proprietress.
2) The 1968 movie with scenes at the Hi-Hatt Club was not Thunder Road, but The Road Hustlers. (It does not seem to be available on DVD or VHS).
3) The book doesn't definitively settle the question of whether the Club really was a house of ill repute, but states "Due to a renewal of complaints about the Hi-Hatt Club's liquor violations and rumors of prostitution, SLED (State Law Enforcement Division) raided it in 1973.
4) There are no exterior pictures of the club given.
UPDATE 20 March 2012 -- Well, The Road Hustlers has surfaced (subtitled in Norwegian, of course). I have not watched the movie as such, but simply fast forwarding through it leads me to believe there is only one scene set at The Hi Hatt Club, stills of which, and a youtube embed, are below.
The exterior shots at the beginning (Hi Hatt sign) and end (front porch of Hi Hatt) are definitely the club. Unfortunately they are so dark as to be almost invisible. I don't *know* the interior shots for the scene to be the actual Hi Hatt Club, but it seems unlikely that a shoestring drive-in quickie would build a sound set for such a thing. Perhaps some old Hi Hatt patrons can comment..
Two Notch Drive In, 2200 Two Notch Road: 1970s 1 comment
Edna's, of course is a Columbia institution that has been on Broad River Road since forever, but at one time there were at least two other connected restaurants. One was off of Forest Drive behind the Tasty Bake Shop and had indoor seating with unique folk-art on the walls.
The other, listed in the above ad from the 1970 Southern Bell Yellow Pages, was at the site of what is now Anthony's Dairy Bar, which itself has been there a good while. (And Columbia seems to have had a lot of "dairy bars", a name I don't recall seeing in any other city).
To the best of my memory, we never stopped at Two Notch Drive In. In fact, when we started going to restaurants almost everything had gone to indoor seating with the exceptions of the original Columbia McDonald's on Garners Ferry Road, and Bell's Drive In on Forest Drive or that's how it seemed to me anyway.
Rich's, Columbia Mall: 6 March 2005 5 comments
When Rich's came to Columbia with the opening of Columbia Mall it was kind of a big deal. Up until that point, Rich's was an Atlanta name and had the kind of cachet that exotic brands tend to accumulate. I was given to understand that at one point special shopping busses were charterted to run from SC to Atlanta mostly just to shop at Rich's.
Even The State got into the act, running several puff pieces on the store. I can recall one in particular which made the claim that the store was so famous for its customer service and ease of return that a woman once "returned" her husband to Rich's which took him "despite having no record of the sale".
Given that I was almost completely indifferent to style, I was never overwhelmed by the idea (or actuality) of having a Rich's in town, but I liked the odd "pipey" outside architecture of the store, and the quirky way it had an almost patio on the first floor and an interesting elevator which boarded there.
Rich's wasn't all about fashion. It opened during the tail end of the "a department store should have everything" era and so had a full selection of electronics and cookware like a Sears.
It also had a book department at the bottom of the escalator, and that was one of my regular spots to hit when visiting the mall. It tended to best-sellers and remainders so you never knew quite what you would find there. I know I got two volumes of Richard Burton's unexpurgated translation of The Arabian Nights there which I still have, though I never saw the other 15 or so.
At some point Rich's ran into trouble. Wikipedia suggests it started with the death of Richard Rich in 1975. I suspect over expansion and Richway may have contributed. Whatever the case, the chain was sold to Federated which also owned the Macy's name, and the Rich's brand was retired on 6 March 2005.
The old Columbia Mall Rich's store continues to operate as Macy's to this day, and if you consider things just in terms of continuous operation, is one of the last original stores in the mall (along with Sears and Radio Shack) -- there are no books or stereos though.
UPDATE 7 Feb 2010: Somehow I wrote "Frank Rich" above instead of "Richard Rich" (now there's a good comic book name..). I've fixed it (Thanks JT!). Check the comments for more info..
Silver's, 1546 Main Street: 1980s 3 comments
I have a vagure memory of stepping into Silver's once when I had walked down to Main Street on a sunny day back when I was living on campus in the early 1980s.
Even then, 30 years ago (and man it hurts to talk about the 80s being 30 years ago..), it was like stepping into another era of retail. I don't remember much about it other than it was a Woolworth's-like five and dime atmosphere, but without the modernizing touches Woolworth's (still mostly viable at the time) had added. On the other hand, I could be mistaken, since Loopnet claims the building was built in 1970, so it would have hardly have had time to get hoary by then..
The downstairs is available and doesn't look to have much happening inside, but the upstairs is luxury residences (here's one).
Burger King / TitleMax--CheckMax, 1400 Charleston Highway: 2009 9 comments
I don't know when this Burger King went under, but it may have never come back from that time in the 90s when the local franchisee (who owned all the Columbia BKs) got in a dispute with corporate and all Columbia Burger Kings closed. Eventually new ownership was found and a number of them came back (with special commercials featuring "Blues Doctor" Drink Small..), but several never did.
I'm not sure when the follow-on business: TitleMax/CheckMax closed, but I believe it was this year.
I find it rather interesting that the street number displayed on the building is clearly 1402, but google is adamant that the real number is 1400.
Gooney Birds Sports Grill, 2250 Sunset Boulevard: 2000s 8 comments
I had just turned out of Grecian Gardens on the adjacent block when I remembered about Gooney Birds and decided to get a few pictures. Of course that was after supper -- perhaps I'll add a day shot the next time I'm in the area and think about it.
I only ate at Gooney Birds once. I had a burger, and it was perfectly acceptable, but not something so incredibly good that I would pass dozens of other burger places to get over there. I don't recall much about the decor now, but at this remove, I'm wondering if the eponymous 'Gooney Birds' could have been The Gamecocks -- most years it seems as though it would fit well enough.
As do many buildings fitted out as restaurants, Gooney Birds has found new life as a Chinese Restaurant. (The other possibility would be a Lizards Thicket, but there was already one of those in the same parking lot :-)
UPDATE 3 Nov 2010 -- Here's a daylight picture, finally:
Grocery Store, 1440 Charleston Highway Building 9: 1970s 6 comments
OK, as is often the case, my memory is a bit hazy on this, but I think I recall this whole plaza as being the original site for the Cayce K-Mart, with this outbuilding, now mostly an auto-parts operation, some sort of grocery store. Anyway, it still seems to have that sort of "grocery" look in the facade.
The area in general (around the start of Airport Boulevard and Piggy Park) doesn't seem to have done well in recent years. The Magic Carpet Slide went under, Shoney's moved, the A&P closed, and the whole little plaza across the Charleston Highway from this strip has been in decline for years.
On the other hand, the last Taco Cid is still hanging in there..