Greensboro Daily Photo

SWIM Greensboro

In Greensboro, summer is a time for swim meets, swim meets, and more swim meets. What a great way to stay fit while enjoying the warm summer days. The beauty of swimming is that everyone gets to compete, not just the best athletes. 

Here we see swimmers at the Eastern Invitational Swim Meet, held this past weekend at Lindley Pool. Greensboro Swimming Association has been sponsoring the meet for 54 years. Swimmers in the far lanes were in the process of swimming the individual medley after just finishing their mile event. 

Many of the Greensboro swimmers who participated in the Eastern Invitational will be back in the water tonight as Tuesday is the day for the Community Swim Association's dual meets... Greensboro Country Club, Bur-Mill, Lake Jeannette, Friendly, Green Valley, Cardinal (to name a few of the club teams)..... fun will be had by all! July 9th-11th, all 2,000 swimmers will converge on Lindley Pool for their Grand Rivalry: CITY MEET!

Once we get the natatorium built, Greensboro will have fine swim facility to provide a first-class place to compete as well as a place for all of our swimmers to practice. That's My World! See you at the pool.

Schiffman's Jewelers, Since 1893

We start the week with Schiffman's Jewelers, located at 225 S. Elm Street. Here we see the store just before opening when the valuables are still vaulted and all is quiet. Schiffman's Jewelers is a fourth-generation, family-owned, local business that remained faithful to downtown Greensboro even during decades when other businesses relocated. Many Greensboro families have great stories about purchasing engagement rings, strings of pearls, and other fine jewelry from this shop. We hope you will share your story here. Any retail business that has endured since 1893 must be keeping customers happy. 

While this photo looks like it could be from a previous century, actually it was taken within the last 24 hours and converted to black and white for the Monochrome Meme!

Pleasant Ridge Community Church

Pleasant Ridge Community Church is a plain, square building on Pleasant Ridge Road. Just behind it is a horse pasture; in front, a busy road leading to the Cardinal neighborhood and Northwest High School. Actually, the church isn't far from the airport either. With the cross built onto the facade of the building and a cross painted on the mailbox, it is very clear that this quiet little building is a house of worship. If you like seek rest for the soul on Sunday, we suggest visiting Monastery Daily Photo. 

McKnight Hardware, Inc.

McKnight Hardware, Inc., located at 1709 East Bessemer Avenue, was founded in 1950 by Tom and Margaret Mcknight. This business is Greensboro's oldest hardware store and you can find just about anything you want here, including EXPERTISE. If you have an older home and need an item that is hard to find, McKnight Hardware is the place for you. When you stop in for a visit, expect the unexpected from miniature York peppermint patties for sale on the counter to deer heads directing you to the hunting section.

Tie Dye Sky at the Greensboro Arboretum

Last Sunday at the Summer Solstice Festival in the Greensboro Arboretum, this young couple stood arm-in-arm admiring the sky. The picture was taken during the hottest part of the day when the sun didn't have much color. However, what the sky over Greensboro was lacking at that moment, the tie dye shirt replaced. This annual event is a great time to bring out your brightest clothing, hair garland, little dogs dressed up, long skirts, and positive attitude. Happy Sky Watch Friday where over 300 of us come together to celebrate the world beyond our reach.

Chevy C10 Circa 1980's Vintage on Gracewood Drive

Today, we offer this Circa 1980 Vintage Chevy C10 truck. As Southerners, we have our frugal, thrifty side and we also love our trucks. This particular truck is in the process of being sanded down to be repainted. We're betting the owner wants to get another ten years out of his vehicle.  This truck, spotted (pun intended) on Gracewood Drive, was full of landscaping/yardwork equipment. 

The two-story, split-level house in the background is typical of the homes in this well-groomed neighborhood just off Holden Road and Brian Blvd. We love the photogenic, snakelike patina on the truck, but are not so sure property owners on Gracewood would want it parked (as is) in one of their driveways permanently! 

Sportsplex

The Greensboro Sportsplex, located at 2400 16th Street, just off of East Cone Boulevard and US 29, is a multi-sports facility. The 106,000 square ft. venue offers basketball, hockey, volleyball, badminton, and soccer. It is located near the former Carolina Circle Mall and, along with the Wal-Mart and Lowe's Home Center, represents an effort to revitalize the east side of Greensboro in recent years. 

If you or your children are looking for a great sports camp this summer, it is worth checking out all that the Sportsplex is offering. Additionally, the RUSH fitness complex has a branch at the Sportsplex. As seen in the photo above, Sportsplex is clean, well-lit, and offers fabulous floor surfaces, appropriate for each sport they offer.

Summer Solstice Festival in Arboretum

This woman, dancing on stage at the Summer Solstice Festival in the Arboretum this weekend, exemplifies the positive energy filling the air. The family friendly event brings thousands of people together to celebrate the day of the year with the most daylight. The 2008 festival experienced a torrential downpour. This year, we did not dare complain about the heat as we were all so thankful that the rains stayed away. Start planning your goddess/fairy outfit for next year. The more colorful, the better!

Happy Father's Day, Yesterday

If you are a dad, we hope you had a wonderful Father's Day! Here we are, back on the lawn on Holden Road, across the street from Starmount Country Club. The lifesize letters say it all: DAD!

St. Mary's House Episcopal Church

This Sunday, we offer a view of St. Mary's House. They bill themselves as "a diverse and inclusive Episcopal Church community welcoming people of all ages, races, marital status, sexual orientation, and previous church experience." St. Mary's is located at 930 Walker Avenue on the corner of Tate Street. Located just a block from UNCG and Greensboro College, St. Mary's is a perfect place for college students who find themselves away from home and wanting to be part of a religious community, particularly one that won't be overly judgmental and dogmatic. The dynamic, little blue house also serves as a community center. In the early 1900's, St. Mary's was established as a church on campus for women attending State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG) and Greensboro College. 

WAFCO Mills

WAFCO MILLS, located at 801 McGee Street, has been converted to apartments and condos. This picture was taken on the train tracks that lead back up to Greensboro College and Weaver School for the Performing Arts. This building has plenty of character and an example of the successful regentrification of our city. This is another example of repurposing our historic buildings. Unfortunately, with the recent downpouring of rain, the building suffered a little flooding on the lower floor. We're not finding bsites for the building (other than sales). If you know of any, let us know and we'll link!

Greensboro's Revolution Mill on the Horizon

The vantage point for this photo was a small, sloping knoll on the east end of State Street overlooking what used to be a cotton mill in Greensboro. Built in 1899,  Revolution Cotton Mill prospered and became the world's largest flannel production facility by the 1930's. Cone Mills closed the plant in 1982; however, the 600,000 square foot space is being repurposed into a work/live campus environment with walking & biking trails. The new facility is known as Revolution Mill Studios. The slogan on their website is "Join us for our next 100 years!" 

For those of you who want to read more about the mill life in North Carolina, we recommend Barbara Presnell's book of documentary poems entitled "Piece Work." We saw the poems, spanning generations of mill life, acted out at the Greensboro Historical Museum and they were fabulous. 

For our Sky Watch Friday friends and fellow photographers, the blurry foreground reminds us that Greensboro's mill history is quickly slipping out of focus. Most of the jobs and factories have gone to Mexico or to Asia. Here-- Greensboro's textile mill version ground zero-- we are left with a round brick monument to our community's past: REVOLUTION. 

Joseph S. Koury Convention Center

The 250,000 square foot, 1,000 guest-room, Joseph S. Koury Convention Center is located beside the Four Seasons Mall in Greensboro. The venue is a now Sheraton property and is the largest hotel/convention center between Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The convention center is named after developer Joseph S. Koury. The link to Koury Corporation describes Mr. Koury's career in the following manner saying that he was, "the most prolific developer in Greensboro's history...... [and he} built more than 8,000 homes in 14 residential neighborhoods, seven shopping malls and strip centers, eight major office buildings, hotels and the famous Joseph S. Koury Convention Center."  The crown jewel of his accomplishments is the  Grandover Resort with its two championship golf courses, spa, and amenities plus.

Mr. Koury's vision was far reaching and his attitude was "build it and they will come."  He was a hands-on builder who loved the sound and smell of freshly tilled earth. Wikipedia has a listing for the Four Seasons Town Center, developed by Koury, but not a listing for the man himself. His family still lives and works in the area; hopefully, they will provide the public with more information about this local legacy. So many Greensboro residents have wonderful memories of conferences and gatherings at the Convention Center.

Tate Street

Tate Street backs up to The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is a fun place to walk and people watch, to grab a cup of coffee, to take a break from studying or teaching. Tate Street Coffee is an independently owned, community minded, place. Design Archives is a fabulous vintage clothing store. The businesses on Tate Street work hard to keep their part of College Hill entertaining and family friendly. Each fall and spring, Tate Street comes alive with a music and crafts festival.

For Rent All Around Campuses in Greensboro

As mentioned before on Greensboro Daily Photo, our city is blessed with several institutions of higher education. In the time between when universities finish the academic year and after the public schools are out for the summer, several properties are available for rent. With all of the new construction in Greensboro, landlording is not quite as easy as it used to be. Nevertheless, properties like the one shown above, tend to rent quickly when they are located near an IHE. This one is on Walker Avenue, a stone's throw from UNCG and part of the College Hill neighborhood/historic district.

As far as college rental property goes, this apartment has tremendous curb appeal. Fresh paint and new chairs on a cozy, shaded porch. 

School's Out for the Summer

Well, to quote Alice Cooper, "School's out for the summer." Today is the last day. We hope all of the children and their teachers have happy & healthy summers. 

In the photo above, taken at Grimsley High School, we see the pride of Guilford County School's (GCS) transportation department, the Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner C2 bus.  (Bus number 1377 is a C2).  According to their website, Perley A.Thomas founded the business in 1916 and since 1936, they have been producing busses. Today, Thomas Built Busses builds over 15,000 busses a year. Thomas built a $40 million dollar manufacturing facility just down the road from Greensboro in High Point.

The GCS busses and drivers will take a break until they are reunited with their student-riders on August 25, 2009. Parents, if you have not yet filled out a transportation form, you'd better do it now. The deadline has passed which means you aren't guaranteed that your transportation request will be in order by the first day of school. 

Readers, do some of you remember the days (as late as the 1970's) when high school students could drive busses in North Carolina? We actually know people who drove a school bus while in high school! My how times have changed. 

Latter Day Saints...Mormons...Greensboro

In Greensboro, the Mormon/LDS Community has two churches; one just south of I-85 at 3621 Lakefield Drive and one at 3719 Pinetop Road. They have another venue at 3608 West Friendly that appears to be some type of educational center. The above photo is of the church on Pinetop, just across the street from Claxton Elementary School. 

Locally, we don't hear too much about the religion. However, Greensboro's most famous Mormon is author Orson Scott Card. Mr. Card is perhaps best known for his book, "Ender's Game." He writes everything from science fiction to articles for a local paper.

The Colfax Custom Frames Shop on Sandy Ridge Road

Just north of the Farmers' Market, at the corner of Cider Road and Sandy Ridge, is Colfax Custom Frames. With the look of a vintage gas station or general store, the frame shop offers up a slice of Americana with each visit. This is how North Carolina looked during the years of the Andy Griffith Show. This is the type of place one went to catch up on the latest community "news" while eating a moon pie and sipping RC Cola with peanuts poured down in the bottle. This is where that truck you were stuck driving behind FINALLY pulled off the road.

Being closed on Saturday and Sunday, Colfax Custom Frames has been hard for us to visit while open, but a peek in the window confirms that they offer frames and atmosphere a-plenty!

Farmers' Market on Sandy Ridge Road

The North Caroline State Government: Farmers' Market Piedmont Triad is one of five farmers' markets owned and operated by the State's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. And a mighty fine farmers' market it is. Visiting the Farmer's Market at 2914 Sandy Ridge Road is a great way to start the day. You get to interact with friendly people and buy locally. We get many of our plants from here as well as our produce. Most weekends, the Farmer's Market has a theme: strawberries, blueberries, peaches...... that keeps us attuned to what produce is currently at peak season. Oh, the Moose Cafe, on site, is a down to earth place to eat while shopping. Arrive hungry!

For us, the skies are inherently beautiful but are even more meaningful when serving as a backdrop for the rest of nature, including man. So, here's to Sky Watch Friday, from our vantage point under one of the retail shelters at the farmers' market. 

Natty Greene's Pub & Brewing Company

Natty Greene's Pub and Brewing Company is located at 345 South Elm Street. The owners have been on the forefront of revitalizing downtown Greensboro. This establishment, opened in 2004,  is housed in a circa 1896 building, formerly known as the J.W. Jones Building. With three floors open to the public as well as this featured outdoor terrace, Natty Greene's Pub offers plenty of space for enjoying your visit. If you like beer, their micro-brews are worth sampling. Personally, we like to sit with a window view and people watch. On the night of 3/23/07, when Greensboro native and American Idol finalist, Chris Daughtry, gave his free concert in downtown Greensboro, it was held in the middle of the street just to the right of the scene above.

Scarecrow on Pleasant Ridge Road

Scarecrows are summer's version of snowmen. North Carolina farmers take great pride in adding humorous personal touches to these yard characters. Here we see Pa Scarecrow with the hand knitted scarf in the foreground and Ma Scarecrow in the far corner of the garden with her fancy pink pants and flowered straw hat. Scarecrows guard the garden hoping to deter birds and varmints. 

This year's crops are off to a tough start as we've had so much rain. Greensboro even made the national news because of the heavy rains. It is believed we received 8 inches the other evening. As for the gardens, excessive rain invites insects and fungus; fruits and vegetables taste waterlogged and rot quickly. 

This farmer on Pleasant Ridge Road has a predator even more challenging than rabbits and cabbage worms-- land developers. He is surrounded by parcels of land that have been converted from farmland to housing developments. Guilford County has many lovely farms. We hope that some, like the one in the photo above, will remain farms and continue to prosper.

Greensboro Grasshoppers

NewBridge Bank Park is home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers. The ballpark has been a wonderful addition to downtown Greensboro. Attendance is up this year as families look for fun, affordable ways to have a night out.  The stadium is a photographer's delight. Additionally, the playground area, reminiscent of a scene from "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" keeps children happy. The above view, with the 3 1/2'  cement baseballs, is just outside the main entrance. On Fridays, home games usually end with fireworks. Thanks to YouTube, we can enjoy a Greensboro Grasshoppers fireworks display virtually! 

On an historical note: In the early 2000's, the Greensboro Community had to decide if we wanted to renovate the  War Memorial Stadium. Much nostalgia was attached since War Memoiral, built in 1926, was the oldest minor-league ballpark still in use. In the end, Greensboro elected to build a new stadium and even renamed the mascot-- formerly the Greensboro Bats, now, the Grasshoppers. In the end, even local preservationists conceded that building the new stadium was a wise decision. Here's to a winning season for the Grasshoppers!!!

Sandra W. Bradshaw

The June 1st 2009 crash of Air France Rio-Paris Flight 447 caused us to pause and recall a local airplane crash victim from eight years ago. As seen on the monument above, on September 11, 2001, Greensboro area resident Sandra W. Bradshaw died aboard United Airlines Flight 93.  We want to remember the flight attendant from Greensboro who worked until the very end trying to help passengers on that ill-fated day. Several screens of information about United Airlines Flight 93 are available on Wikipedia, so we will defer to them for details.

This monument to Sandra is found just outside the baseball stadium in downtown Greensboro. This is our contribution to the Monochrome Weekly Theme.

Charity Baptist Church on US Highway 220 North

The house of worship brought to you this Sunday is Charity Baptist Church located at 4079 US Highway 220 North, just north of Greensboro. As Battleground Avenue becomes less congested, just before Bur-Mil Park, northbound on the left, you will see this church. The front of this church becomes a billboard and is a prime opportunity to deliver a message to speeding motorists. At Charity, the permanent message is, "GOD CAN" in all caps.

To the right, just beyond our camera's viewfinder  is a marquee with ever-changing slogans. This week's message is a warning us that "Satan's greatest wile is wait a while." Southern churches have a great tradition of posting sayings on marquees. 

At Charity Baptist Church, the lawn always looks well manicured. Somebody works hard to keep this church an inviting place.

If you are a faithful GDP reader and we have not featured your house of worship, please let us know. We've got a year of Sundays to feature as many buildings and denominations as possible!

Central Steel and Wire Company

Central Steel & Wire Company is a metal service center at the corner of Warehouse Street and East Bessemer Avenue in East Greensboro. The company is over 100 years old with branches in Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Greensboro. According to their website, they distribute and process quality ferrous and nonferrous metal products. Serendipitously, we happened upon their warehouse when we were on the east side of Greensboro to photograph another venue. This sign caught our attention because we have been reading the blog of Therese Cox, Ampersand Seven. Now, we stop to notice script, writing, and fonts in general. Her blog led us to the work of typographer/font expert Tobias Frere-Jones. 

If you follow these links and really want to know more about fonts, watch this You Tube Movie trailer for Helveitca. Beware, in the movie Helvetica, Frere-Jones warns that once you know fonts, watching movies is never the same for you as you can spot an historically inaccurate font in a heartbeat! All this tangent is to say that this brilliant blogger, Therese Cox, led us to this wonderful company via their captivating sign. We challenge Ms. Cox and any font experts for that matter to identify the font used by Central Steel and Wire. (By the way, we think Therese should quit her day job and start an internet-based, font-identification service). 

Finally, if you see other interesting signs, fonts, or writing in Greensboro that would be of interest to photograph, please let GDP know. We'll be there!

Green Hill Cemetery

On this Sky Watch Friday, we offer a view from inside Green Hill Cemetery. The sky looks as if it is being pierced by the obelisk. The tall monument commemorates the prominent 19th century Greensboro family of Julius A. Gray who incorporated Greensboro's Chamber of Commerce in 1888. This 51-acre, downtown cemetery dates from the end of the 19th century with the oldest burial in the database dating from 1840. Just this year (2009),  Friends of Green Hill Cemetery was established to offer history, photos, and tours of this cemetery. One local fan of the cemetery has an extensive website, dubbed The Unofficial Homepage. 

Last Tuesday, May 26th, we featured the Gatekeeper's Cottage.

Addendum: On Tuesday, June 9th, 2009, the News & Record featured a front page article on Green Hill Cemetery and its need for repairs and TLC. GDP published an article four days earlier! Are we starting to influence other journalists or was the publication of the article just by chance?

Colonial Revival House at 314 Isabel Street

Entry # 118 in the 1976 publication, An Inventory of HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE of Greensboro, N.C., is this house at 314 Isabel Street. In the publication, the property is referred to as the Stanley House with the accompanying text, "Curious Colonial Revival style house with a full 2-story Corinthian portico dwarfing the 1 1/2 story frame structure. Within the center bay of the portico is a stuccoed round arch reminiscent of the architecture of Sir John Soane, famous 19th century British architect."

More recently, in the News and Record, Jim Schlosser published an informative article about the Isabel St. property. As Schlosser recounts, a 2004 fire gutted the 18-room house and owner Paula White returned her home, she has owned since 1979,  to its original splendor-- and then some. White hired Diana Young to research the home's provenance. The family who built the house is not entirely determined; it is attributed to either the Brooks or Carmichael family. Apparently, the correct spelling of the street is not conclusive either as the plaque on the house reads "Isabell" and the Fisher Park street sign reads "Isabel."  Regardless, it is a fine example of historic preservation in Greensboro and the determination of an individual citizen! Kudos to Ms. Young! If the property ever appears again on a tour of historic homes, we will be first in line to admire its beauty!

1954 Belvedere at Mann Motor Sports

Mann Motor Sports is a family-owned, Southern business, the kind where everyone is known on a first-name basis and you don't leave without swapping a few stories-- our local version of NPR's "Car Talk." While Mann Motor Sports of Greensboro is really known for affordable, masterful BMW and Mercedes Benz service and repair, they can fix just about anything on wheels. Additionally, Tony and son Dustin race and collect a vehicle or two.

Above is one of Tony's recent acquisitions, a 1954 Plymouth Belvedere. If you are a diehard fan, likely, you know that the Plymouth Belvedere enjoyed a long production run and many different looks, from 1951- 1970. Featured above is a hardtop, four-door sedan; a Sunday go to church ride. We've banked a few photos of other vintage cars currently seen in their shop. While Mann Motor Sports is not a dealership, customers sometimes display cars for sale in the parking lot. The good thing about that arrangement is that the mechanic is on site! By the way, we don't think the Belvedere is for sale-- yet.

Canada Geese of Greater Greensboro

While on a photo shoot at Mann Motor Sports, we stumbled upon this group of Canada Geese en route to the little pond near Mann's business. Our local Canada Geese should be renamed "Geese formerly known as Canada" because they no longer migrate. Since humans feed them and provide plenty of man-made watering holes, the geese stay year-round in Greensboro. Frequently, they are seen crossing highways with their offspring. They are famous for stopping traffic on busy Battleground Avenue.

We have slightly better feelings about the critters after reading the Wikipedia entry on Canada Geese. Featured above are two different families. According to Wikipedia, Canada Geese mate for life. Could these goslings be cousins? Double cousins? 

The Polio Children's Hospital Of Greensboro

In the 1940's a polio epidemic was sweeping the nation. On the (then) outskirts of Greensboro, between Huffine Mill Road, Summit, and Bessemer Avenues, one could see rows and rows of white cinder block buildings.These buildings were constructed, virtually overnight, to quarantine children who had contracted polio. Today, on this property in northeast Greensboro, a few now-painted-blue buildings with boarded windows remain, abandoned monument to the Polio Children's Hospital of the late 1940's.

With a little investigating, we learned that Greensboro pediatrician, Dr. Gregory Ravenel, saw a need for a hospital when the epidemic first hit the area. It is said that in twelve days, he and local businessmen raised $100,000 to build a facility. In 2007, Peggy Longmire wrote an article about polio survivor Lynn Gordon who refers to Dr. Ravenel and mentions her months in the polio hospital. Another local name associated with the hospital is Ruth Holland Morton. According to Mrs. Morton's 1/25/05 obituary, she was "the first licensed physical therapist in Greensboro... and her practice of 58 years included the Polio Children's Hospital and... The Triad Post Polio Group."  Finally, we'll need to read her autobiography to learn whether North Carolina's most famous polio survivor, Martha Mason,  received treatment at this facility. Unfortunately, Ms. Mason died recently (May 5, 2009) after living for 61 years in an iron lung, due to extensive paralysis from when she contacted polio in 1948 at the age of eleven.

Over the years, The Polio Children's Hospital has been repurposed. In the 1950's it housed, temporarily, students from nearby  Bessemer School while it underwent renovation. The remaining structure, part of which is featured above, is significantly smaller than the original. Seeing the above "NO ENTRANCE" sign makes us wonder, "Just where was the entrance?"