Downtown Frederick, 1920

Sent to The Frederick Press-Leader, March 5, 2012

 Click photos to see larger

1920 Frederick was booming town

Downtown Frederick was a busy place in 1920. The area had been opened to settlement for only 19 years, and the city of Frederick was only 18 years old.

By 1920, though, cars and trucks had replaced horses on city streets.

The city’s modern business area featured many brick buildings and concrete sidewalks, although streets were still unpaved. Early telephone and electric lines were suspended overhead.

The three accompanying photos, all taken in 1920, show Frederick’s downtown streets and landmarks of the day.

  

North Main Street

This photo was taken at the intersection of Main and Grand, looking north. The Register Building, current site of Louise Bradley’s barber shop, is on the right. To the north, at the site that many of us remember as the J.C. Penney building, is a sign advertising “S&S Millinery, Ladies Ready to Wear”.

The corner building at the left of the photo was the Bank of Commerce. The building, later know as the Dillingham Building or the Hughes Jewelry building, was remodeled in the 1940s or ‘50s, changing its exterior appearance.

The Frederick Post office in 1920 was located on Main Street, north of the bank building.

Several of the buildings on the west side of this block would be destroyed in the major downtown fire of February 1974.

The Tillman County Courthouse would be located in the next block north, but had not been built in 1920.

Grand Avenue Looking West

This photo was taken at the intersection of Main and Grand, looking to the west.

The large Bank of Commerce Building, now the Hughes Building, is on the right.

The corner building at left is the Carr and Pritchard Hardware building. It was at 100 West Grand, the site where Cole Pest Control is now located. The Carr and Pritchard building later housed C.R. Anthony Department Store with several businesses on the second floor. It was extensively damaged by fire in the 1950s and rebuilt.

A large barber poll west of Carr and Pritchard identifies a barber shop.

The early Frederick water tower at West Grand and Third Street was a Frederick landmark for almost 100 years until its removal just a few years ago.

Grand Avenue Looking East

This picture was taken on Grand Avenue, looking east, from a point in front of the Frederick Leader building.

The corner building at right is one that many of us remember as the Frank’s TV building.

A sign identifies the building immediately east of it as a bakery.

Further to the east is the Nuf-Sed Cleaners.

Several blocks to the east, the tower of the early First Baptist Church can be seen. The church would be destroyed by fire in 1931.

Joe Wynn is a member of the Tillman County Historical Society’s board of directors.