Railroad Avenue In The 1930s

Railroad Avenue In The 1930s

Barry Worrell - October 8, 2014

These three photos show the east half of the business area on Railroad Avenue, aka, Main Street. Looks much different than today. I don't know what was in some of the buildings in the 1930s, so my reference will be from the 40s-50s.

Photo 1.

1. The Woodson build is known as the Woodson-Prince Wholesale Grocers, not Woodson-Mohler.

2. To the right is commonly called Johnson-Gwinn. You will notice a second floor which appears to be a resident. Also, on the left side there is smaller structure, or a wooden fence with a door since there is no evidence of a roof. It could have been just space between the two buildings. When the building was remolded, the second floor was taken off and the street level part was widened to the left up against the wall of the Woodson building.

Photo 2.

To the right of the Bank building is where Mick or Mack grocery store was. It also has a second floor. How did they get up there. It look as if there might be a space between the bank and building to the right, or it could be the bank sets back off the street more that the adjacent building.

Continuing on, the drug store with it's hanging sign that says Rexall Drugs. The sign looks to be attached to the porch, which at some time was removed and then rebuilt at a later date. As I have said before, it wasn't there when we moved there in 1941.

There has been a lot of debate as to what is the white object standing at the corner of the building. Also at that corner is the entrance to the stairway that goes up to the apartment over where Andy Russell had his department store.

The next photo shows the last three buildings better.

Photo 3.

The street level of the three story building on the left, was a store owned, I think, by Mr. Withrow. The town cab use to park there awaiting a phone calls to pick someone up. I don't remember what kind of store Mr. Withrow ran. I think he sold clothing. The upper two floors may have been more residences.

The next store on the right, I have no idea what it was. There is a sign, but unreadable in this photo. I do remember in the 40s-50s a small building in it's approximate location that was split into two stores. Sam Bennett had his barber shop in one. And the other side was a small convenience store. The upstairs, don't know. Again, how did they get up there. Maybe from the alley behind the street.

The large three story building was the called the Monroe House. A. E. T. Scruggs built the Monroe House in 1872 on the site of the present Post Office. There was a covered walkway from the railroad across the street to the hotel. It was a favorite meal stop and in 1875 President Grant dined at the Monroe House. The Alderson House continued housing and feeding passengers until arrival of Dining Cars in 1889.

The thing that intrigues me is the amount of two and three story buildings that use to be there. It would be interesting to know what was in all the buildings and what was upstairs. Some of these are pure speculation on my part from what I've heard. Must have been a booming little town.

If you were around in the 30s and have read or told factual information, or remember facts about any of these buildings, your input would greatly appreciated. Help us document a part of Alderson history. After all, if we don't do it now, who will? The comment box is waiting your response. Please sign your name.

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