From marshland to historic, Five Points receives national recognition
Five Points is officially historic.
The funky urban village near the University of South Carolina was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Five Points Association announced Thursday.
The village has been one of Columbia’s hallmark neighborhoods since it was carved out of marshland more than a century ago. Largely developed between 1919 and 1967, Five Points is historically significant as Columbia’s first suburban retail shopping center.
The historic district includes 74 historic resources, according to the association, mostly buildings dating from the 1920s through the 1940s. Most of Five Points’ historic structures are still recognizable, the association said, including the Depression era Tudor Revival storefronts wrapping the west corner of Harden and Devine streets, the 1928 built Claussen’s Bakery building on Greene Street, the 1940s storefronts of Saluda Avenue, and the Five Points Theater on Harden Street, built in 1939, which is now a popular bar for college students.
It joins more than 1,400 National Register listings in South Carolina, including the South Carolina State House, Fort Sumter National Monument and downtown Orangeburg.
Developer Richard Burts, who owns some of the contributing properties, said that the designation is “mostly honorific at this point” and doesn’t put any additional restrictions on Five Points buildings.
“It’s a great marketing tools for us,” he said. “And it opens up tax credits for anyone who is of the mind of taking some of the buildings down here and restoring them in a proper manner.”
John Sherrer, director of cultural resources for Historic Columbia called the designation “very, very positive for the district.”
“It illustrates the history and architectural integrity of the district,” he said. “It will be boon for business and property owners and people want to invest and reinvest in the district.”
A grant from the Richland County Conservation Commission funded the historical research and writing needed to be nominated.
Swampy Five Points was drained shortly after the turn of the 20th Century and was transformed into a business district for the new Columbia suburbs of Shandon and Wales Garden, according to the application.
Gas stations were among the first buildings built around the the two star-like intersections known as “Five Points” in the 1920s, the application said. Through the years, grocery stores, pharmacies and specialty stores popped up along Harden, Greene, and Devine streets, followed by delis, liquor stores and beauty parlors.
The village even hosted the city’s first drive-through dry-cleaner and Chinese restaurant, according to the application.
Overseen by the National Park Service, the National Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic places in the U.S. worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register is part of a statewide program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources, its site says.
This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 11:51 AM.