Yesterday was a beautiful day in downtown Greensboro, albeit 91+ degrees! The above photo is of the Greensboro History Museum, located at 130 Summit Avenue. However, this side actually faces the Tanger Center for the Performing Arts. While this building is now the history museum, as you can see from the historic marker on the left, during the Civil War, it served as a Confederate Hospital, receiving wounded soldiers from the battle of Bentonville. Even before serving as a confederate hospital, it had been built as the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro. The above view features an almost identical orientation of the photo found on p. 49 of Gale Hicks Fripp's book "Greensboro Volume II Neighborhoods (Arcadia Publishing, 1998).
In her book, Fripp explains that in 1892, The First Presbyterian congregation completed this sanctuary, the third iteration of the church. The style is Romanesque Revival. The dormer windows to the right remain intact from the late 1800s; however, the upper portion of the tower, formerly pointed, is missing. This sanctuary is the oldest part of the complex. Other features of the property include Mary Lynn Richardson Park, a cemetery, and the Smith Memorial Building. If you were hoping for a church service, since the late 1920s, the First Presbyterian Church has been located on North Elm Street in Fisher Park. If you have not visited the Greensboro History Museum, you owe it to yourself to do so. You can learn so much about the history of Greensboro, and the exhibits are breathtakingly curated. The current (temporary) exhibit on the third floor, Pieces of Now, features murals, masks, community stories and conversations centered around the Black Lives Matter Movement and the COVID Epidemic. Perhaps you can schedule a visit during the upcoming North Carolina Folk Festival, September 10- 12.
The museum open today from 2:00 pm- 5:00 pm. Fortunately, there is no interest fee- although donations are always appreciated!
Happy Sunday!
A beautiful building.
Posted by: William Kendall | Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 05:00 PM