[cityboi]

This hotel was named after the famous American short story writer William Sydney Porter who wrote under the pen name O'Henry. Porter was born in Greensboro and in the early 20th century a hotel was erected in his honor. unfortunately the hotel was demolished in 1979 and th 8 story Bellemeade parking deck sits where the building once stood. Here are some rarely seen photos of the old hotel. These photos were taken in 1978.

A new O'Henry Hotel was built 2 miles west of downtown in Friendly Shopping Center during the late 1990s. While its a very nice hotel it lack the old time charm character the old one had.

The New O'Henry

 

[Matthew]

The older building had a library with books from O'Henry on the second floor, near the ballroom (if I remember correctly?). Do you have any photos of the library or information on the current location of these books? I thought the reading room was a very cool feature in the old hotel. If I remember my Greensboro history, this building was lost to a fire and suffered a lot of water damage. I would like to know more about the library and if anything survived from it. BTW, you must visit my restaurant (in photo link below).

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/nc/nc0000/nc0041/photos/102189pr.jpg

 

[Raleigh-NC]

Matthew, did you notice something in the second photo, to the lower left? I didn't know you operated a restaurant in DT GSO :lol:

Seriously now, I love those older photos. Too bad some nice buildings were demolished, just to be replaced by lots and decks, but I guess this is the price our cities paid to bring more people (and cars) downtown. Thanks for the pics, cityboi kay: Let me share one of mine (the second one), for comparison.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[cityboi]

Its interesting that the parking deck is about the same height as the old O'Henry and has the round corner.

 

[Raleigh-NC]

Also, the Elm Str side doesn't look bad, considering that the structure is a parking deck. I am not saying that I prefer the latter to a historic hotel, but it could have been MUCH worse. Sorry to bore you with the same old photos of mine - gotta visit Greensboro on a clear and sunny day - but here is another image I would like to share, which shows the Elm Str front of the structure:

 

[krazeeboi]

Oh well, too bad everything historic and significant doesn't last. I would have rather the O'Henry hotel get torn down than the JP building, though.

 

[triadcat]

Oh well, too bad everything historic and significant doesn't last. I would have rather the O'Henry hotel get torn down than the JP building, though.

The Jefferson-Standard building is amazing. I believe it dates to the 1920's? The Jefferson-Pilot was added on in the 1990's. The architecture is so ornate, detailed and classy on the J-S. The old O'Henry was a loss and it wouldv'e been nice to keep it. And it is a shame that a parking garage replaced it, but at least the parking garage is "dense" and looks almost like a building. It is fairly attractive for a parking garage.
I'm just glad that the old Wachovia will be renovated and put to good use.

 

[cityboi]

the inside of the old O'Henry kind of reminds me of the overlook hotel in the 1980 movie "The Shining" It just looks haunted LOL!

 

[emjohnson2]

I was glad to see the old WACHOVIA logo on the now vacant building....brings back memories. When I was there, they changed the style of the logo to a more modern font as the latter is roman style lettered logo.

 

[cityboi]

I was glad to see the old WACHOVIA logo on the now vacant building....brings back memories. When I was there, they changed the style of the logo to a more modern font as the latter is roman style lettered logo.

yea I noticed that was the old stlye letters. now the building will look entirely different.


here is a pic of the other hotel that was imploded in downtown Greensboro.

The King Cotton Hotel was built in 1926 and was imploded in 1971.

 

[Raleigh-NC]

^^
Sad to lose this building, although it looked a bit boxy... much like the Sheraton in DT Raleigh. What is standing in its place today?

 

[emjohnson2]

yea I noticed that was the old stlye letters. now the building will look entirely different.


here is a pic of the other hotel that was imploded in downtown Greensboro.

The King Cotton Hotel was built in 1926 and was imploded in 1971.

Gosh...that is a lost. How much of an impact would it have on the skyline if it were still here today? It looks way taller then 13 stories.

 

[cityboi]

It would have made Greensboro's skyline look pretty good. Its a loss when any tall building is imploded. You are very correct though. It is a tall building to be 13 stories. I think they should rebuild it like they did with the O'Henry.

 

[cityboi]

^^
Sad to lose this building, although it looked a bit boxy... much like the Sheraton in DT Raleigh. What is standing in its place today?

Currently the News & Record building sits there. The hotel was located on the corner of Davie & E Market Street. It is a little boxy but I do like it better than the way the old Wachovia Building looks today. maybe its because its brick. I like brick facade buildings. I think they should build the next skyscraper downtown with a brick facade.

 

[Raleigh-NC]

I think we are a bit past beyond the all-brick era. In Raleigh, we have the Quorum Center, a 15-story mixed-use tower, which looks amazingly nice in person. However, if the windows were not large enough, I am not sure I would like the building as much as I do now. I must admit, there are some older high-rises made [mostly] of brick and they have style and elegance. Unfortunately, those days are long gone Now, it has gotten very expensive to deliver such towers. It probably is more efficient and profitable to put lots of glass. Oh, well. Greensboro has a nice collection of modern towers, so you know the chances are good to continue along the same path.

 

[Matthew]

60's renovations at Jefferson Standard Building

The old Jefferson Standard (or Lincoln Financial) Building had a lot more detail when it was built than it has today. Part of the facade was removed during a renovation. Look up older photos of the building and you'll see what I'm talking about. Be sure to look around the top floor when comparing old photos to new photos. There was a plan in the 1960's to reclad it. Like NYC's Woolworth's Building, the Jefferson Standard Building had ornamentation that became dangerous for pedestrians below and had to be removed.