Hamburger Square

If you want to know what life was like at Hamburger Square about 100 years ago, Jim Scholsser's article "Hamburger Square Has a Past" is an outstanding place to start. It was published in the book, "27 Views of Greensboro". The Hamburger Square area had so many businesses, it makes one wonder how on earth they all fit. There were hotels galore, trains stopping all the time, and passengers boarding and exiting.  There was a cigar factory, and yes, there were seedy aspects that kept Hamburger Square teeming with life.  While those old businesses are gone, their architecture remains. The area is on the national register of historic places.

Tha above photo is of east/west rail lines at the 400 block of South Elm Street. Because of this rail traffic, Greensboro became known as "Gate City". Schlosser writes that the railroad actually transformed Greensboro. Because of the railroad, our city recovered from the Civil War quickly, growing and prospering.  In 1890, more than forty passenger trains stopped at the square daily. The railroad is what brought the textile industry here. In recent years (the 1990s) gentrification began downtown and started around Hamburger Square with Natty Greene's, Just Be, Green Bean, Design Archives, and McCouls. Schlosser reminds us: "One aspect of the square remains unchanged. Everyday, at all hours since 1856, trains have jolted the peace at Hamburger Square" (p. 93). The above photo shows a couple of young adults trying to get the perfect photos on these iconic tracks. People are quick to remind us that Greensboro doesn't have mountains, a beach, a river. Perhaps the railroad tracks, with their ability to move people and goods, are our geographic feature. Happy Tuesday!

Comments

[William Kendall]

Excellent perspective.

[Janemitchell]

The write-up is superb. It ought to explain the “Gate City” name to those enquirers.