So, this is just between us, but I have some really cool photos of the soon to be finished Mahler building at 228 Fayetteville Street. As part of the Fayetteville Street Historic District, it serves as an example of some of the low rise commercial buildings that used to dominate the area.

Over the past decade, however, the 200 block has been in a process of rebirth. Slated to open in the next few weeks, it will serve as an art gallery on the bottom floor, commercial offices on the second floor, and living units on the top floor. Local builder Greg Paul is the contractor, and I think he’s done a great job inside and out! Having worked for the architect in charge of the renovation, I got a firsthand taste of the rigors of renovating a historic commercial and residential site. Here are some photos, starting from the ground floor and moving up to the apartments. Enjoy!

The Mahler Gallery, which will house artwork, and which will also be on the First Friday Artwalk.

Second Floor Commercial Offices, Carter Worthy Commercial

More office space

Mahler Unit A - Fayetteville Street Side, Living Room

Mahler Unit A - Reverse

View from Mahler Unit A

Mahler Unit B - Living Room/Kitchen

View from Mahler Unit B - Salisbury Street Side - lights are still on in the News & Observer, I guess the survivors have to work even harder! Below are pictures within the space shown in the previous photo.

I even managed to get a sneak peek of the back of the building that Empire owns (I think it’s 230 Fayetteville)

I don’t know specifics about when the building is opening, or how much rent/a lease would be for the apartments, but I can’t think of a better location for living downtown. It’s a great example of a successful renovation of a historic site. The Gallery is slated to be opening in May, and the Tift Merritt Photo Show will be up for First Friday (according to their website). So with that in mind, be sure to come check it out on the First Friday Bike Ride!

300 block of S. Wilmington St., 1926. The four storefronts seen left to right are the same ones seen in the photo below. They were built in the late 1870s. (Image courtesy N.C. State Archives)

I have long appreciated the back street charm of the first three blocks of S. Wilmington St. The east side of the street features a virtually intact collection of 19th century 2-story brick storefronts.Rather thanthe banks, hotels, high-end department stores, office and government buildings found on Raleigh’s main street, these sturdy brick buildings originally housed cotton and tobacco brokers, seed stores and harness shops, saloons and lunch counters.

300 block of S. Wilmington St., 2009. (Image credit: John Morris)

Nowadays the first two blocks of Wilmington St.areundegoing a resurgence and rehabilitation, while the 300 block remains gloomy and virtually deserted.

Image credit: John Morris

Many years ago, during the period when I worked a string of blue-collar jobs before returning to school, I became a regular customer ofthe Reliable Loan Co. Money was tight back then, andmany timesmy roommates and I could barely pay the utilities or the$100 per month rent on our house in Boylan Heights. I was the only one among the three of uswho had any ‘property,’ so on those occasions when quick cash was needed, Iwould ride my bikedowntown, across the Martin St. viaduct,and head straight to Reliable Loan.

I remember the shop was crammed full of guitars, electronic equipment and glass cases packed with jewelrywhich I passed by on my way to the pawnbroker’s cage at the back of the store. There I would plop down my worldly goods — my high school class ring, my grandfather’s gold pocket watch, my camera, a couple gold coins and a few scraps of sterling silver. The amount I received for the pawn was always the same — $50. And I always felt slightly guilty for pawning my grandfather’s watch, but doing so provided me with the incentive to return in a month’s time and buy back my possessions out of hock. And although the power and water at our housewere shut off on occasion, we always had the money to pay the rent.

300 block of S. Wilmington St. — today a mere reflection of its former self . (Image credit: Raleigh Boy)

Whenever I pass by Reliable Loan these days, I always think of that experience so long ago. I am a little saddened, too, when I think Raleigh may bebuilding yetanother monument to architectural banality in the form of the Edison,which, if built,will wipe out what remains of that block, taking with it yet another small, and irreplaceable,uniquity ofour city’s past.

The rear of The Hudson (Wilmington Street side) houses a posh courtyard area. It’s hidden from view unless you look down from upper levels of the recently constructed parking deck or from one of the high rise buildings around it. Barely visible is the blue illumination which covers the rear but no longer the front of the structure.

Two pretty ladies posing for the camera before going in to Five Star on Hargett Street.

With all of the new restaurants and bars opening up around Fayetteville, Hargett, and Wilmington Streets, it’s easy to overlook some of the businesses that have been downtown long before the area’s resurgence. One such example is Dechen Collections, a family-run operation on Blake Street in City Market specializing in hand-made goods crafted by Tibetan refugees located in Nepal, India, and Thailand.

The store is run by Dechen Paldon and her husband Karma Tashi, both Tibetan nationals. Operating a business selling hand-made items wasn’t something she decided to do on after moving to the United States, however. Her parents ran a similar store outside the refugee camps in Nepal, and she ran one of her own for 18 years before emigrating to the United States over 10 years ago. They have operated out of City Market for about 8 years.

The first place Dechen lived after emigrating was Illinois. A mild climate and growing population lured her to Raleigh, a place with a tiny Tibetan exile population. She first tested the waters of the area by selling items at the NC State Fairgrounds. Although interest in her items for sale was high, she wanted a more permanent location and a more comfortable atmosphere (indoors). She opened up shop on the Blount Street side of City Market in a space with less than 1,000 square feet.

After two years, the store relocated to the current location on Blake Street to accomodate a growing inventory and a burgeoning customer base. At that time the Greenshields Brewpub was in operation which brought in a good amount of foot traffic, and the location wasn’t far from the old Convention Center. It was during the first few years in operation that a very loyal customer base began to grow.

Dechen Collections has customers that live across the country that continue to buy goods, after only a single visit to the area for business or to see relatives during the holidays. Dechen made a point to state the the construction of the new Convention Center has greatly improved business and has created more long-term customers.

One of the signature items here is the assortment of traditional Tibetan carpets. Dechen explained to me that this is the fabric of Tibetan culture. Even when working a full-time job, many or most spend time their time at home making them. She was one of those who spent her mornings drying colors and working the looms in the evening after work. It’s a terribly painstaking process. She said that if one person was working on one for 10 hours a day, it would be well over a month before it would be complete.

If you haven’t yet visited this charming little store, I highly recommend it. From clothing, to books, carpets, artwork, antiques, and the melodic and hypnotizing singing bowls pictured above, you will be fascinated by the selection of out of the ordinary items for sale. I had originally recorded the singing bowls with the intent of embedding it within this post, but the depth and range of the sound exceeded the recording capabilities of the device. Instead, you should pay Dechen and Karma a visit to hear it for yourself.

You can stop by on Sundays and Mondays from 10:30 until 4:00, and Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30 until 6:00. They are also open late every First Friday.

Dechen Collections
307 Blake Street
919-899-6817

The welcome area of the Edmisten Law building on the corner of Salisbury and Hargett Streets appears to have been unchanged since the late 1970s or early 1980s. Although law offices aren’t known for out of the ordinary or cutting-edge interior décor, this one in particular seems to be especially locked in time and unchanged for quite a while.

Katie, a resident of Asheville, after a long night of strolling and drinking downtown.

A view of the Moore Square Transit Mall as seen from the top floor of the Montague Building.

Being a fan of local history, things that take place after nightfall, and good mysteries, I was incredibly intrigued by a story I read last year in the N&O. In it, Josh Shaffer (my favorite local journalist), tells the tale of a person or persons who for the last 20 years have decorated the tombstone of a rebel soldier buried in the Confederate Cemetery of Oakwood:

Each April, a stranger creeps into Oakwood Cemetery and drapes a single gravestone with a black sash. He lights a candle in tribute to a doomed Confederate hanged for firing a last-ditch shot at Raleigh’s Yankee occupiers. … After 20 years, the soldier’s secret admirer remains a small-time legend among history buffs who like to guess at his identity. The guessing begins anew each April 13, the death date of the hotheaded Texan with no known first name.

– Josh Shaffer

As I’ve come to know it, Raleigh surrendered to Union troops without a fight. Despite this, the city and the surrounding area are rich in Civil War history, in addition to the Confederate Cemetery. One example is the Richard B. Haywood House, where Raleigh resident Dr. Haywood toastedthe end to the war with Union Generals Francis P. Blair and Tecumseh Sherman in the alcove of the house.

Considering that no major battles took place here, I’ve always been puzzled by the number of Civil War dead buried here. Not just in the Oakwood Cemetery, but in the Federal Cemetery on East Davie St. and Rock Quarry Road as well. Can anyone shed light on why this is?

Although I wasn’t able to solve the mystery of the stranger decorating the grave, I have to say that it was pretty exciting to see the decorated tombstone in person, for the first time. It’s possible I missed the person(s) by a matter of minutes, or hours.

On the off chance that the person(s) responsible stumble across this article, I’d like to say thanks for doing something interesting to stir peoples’ interest in local history.

For information on the story of Lieut. Walsh’s last stand (and subsequent execution) for his shots at Union sholdiers, check out the article from last year in the News & Observer.

Nestled between a stretch of convenience stores and empty lots on South Street lies an architectural gem built a half century ago that served as one of the first in the area to offer drive-through banking. Originally home of First National Bank, the structure now serves as a house of worship for The Prayer of Deliverance COGIC (Church of God in Christ).

Much of the fenestration and landscaping elements have long since been removed or altered, but the building still stands proudly today in a long neglected corridor just slightly removed from the downtown revival taking place to the East. As the now absent sign in the first photograph shows, it was a “Drive-In” bank - a concept that was just beginning to emerge in the mid 1950s and early 1960s.

Although forward-thinking and planned at the height of the post-WWII era dominated by the automobile, attention and thought was given to the pedestrian and to the outdoor area around the structure. The plan above shows an equal balance of natural plant life and asphalt. Even though much of the original landscaping is now gone, the zig-zag masonry wall defining the parking area at the rear of the building still encloses a planting of small trees and shrubbery.

An advertisement for a banking supply company in the early 1950s stated:

“Auto Banking is here to stay by popular acclaim! Its convenience attracts new business. It saves despositors’ time as well as your own. It saves lobby and workspace. It shortens window lines.”*

While this claim may have been a bit dramatized, it did highlight the significant shift in the way Americans came to perceive the act of interacting with their local bank. This First National Bank was one of Raleigh’s pioneers in the move away from traditional classicist construction that focused on the walk-up counter as the sole method of banking.

The First National Bank building was designed by Carter Williams a few years before he began planning the BB&T branch that was erected in 1962 on the corner of Oberlin Road and Hillsborough Street. It was at this time of suburban growth that regulations were changed which had previously restricted or limited the number of branches a bank could operate.

While the current use of this structure is far removed from the original intent, it still remains intact and serves the community; a testament to one of the area’s most distinguished and talented architects.

(Historic images courtesy of Lewis P. Watson Collection)

* “How to Get Auto Banking Business,” advertisement for Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Co., 1950