Historical Postcard Collection
Business Districts | Residences & Neighborhoods | Transportation |
Churches | Schools, Libraries & Orphanages | World War I |
County History | Business & Industry |
Note: Images of Mebane are provided courtesy of the Mebane Historical Society
Business Districts
Clay Street Mebane
Clay Street is in the heart of Mebane's business district one block north of Center Street (Highway 70). The building with columns in the right foreground is the former Mebane Public Library. This postcard probably represents the 1930s.
Alamance County Courthouse Graham
The original courthouse was built in 1849 and remodeled 3 times. This postcard is the 2nd courthouse build in 1924. The Confederate Monument at left was unveiled on May 6, 1914.
Front Street Burlington (Looking North from Main Street)
This picture of Front Street can probably be dated to the late 1920s or early 1930s because of the globe lights and trolley car tracks still in the streets. The building with the awnings in the right foreground was the former National Bank of Burlington and the spire in the distance is the old Presbyterian Church.
Main Street Burlington
The electrical sign "Bigger, Better, Burlington" stood atop Main St. Drug Company for 20 years between 1914 and 1934. It was placed there by the Chamber of Commerce and became an unofficial city motto.
Residences & Neighborhoods
Erwin A. Holt House
Erwin A. Holt was one of the three sons of textile mill owner Lawrence S. Holt, Sr. His 1905 Queen Anne Style home was located with several other large Holt family homes near the central business district in an area now occupied by the Burlington Municipal Building.
Blythwood
Blythwood was the home of textile mill owner Lawrence S. Holt, Sr. It stood on land bounded by Lexington Ave., Davis St., and Maple Ave. approximately where the Burlington Municipal Building is now located.
Brookwood
Brookwood was an early real estate development located along W. Davis Street bounded by Central Avenue on the east. Construction was started there in 1928.
Fifth Street Looking South (Mebane)
South Fifth Street in Mebane is known for its stately homes. Many may have been constructed between 1900 and 1910 when the population of Mebane increased 400 percent over a ten year period.
Fountain Place (Burlington)
Fountain Place, one of Burlington's first subdivisions, was begun when 4 model homes were constructed between 1917 and 1921.
Fountain Place (Burlington)
Sycamore trees lined the Fountain Place neighborhood and it was lighted with glass globe lampposts called a "white way". Stone pillars on Davis St. marked the development's entrance.
County History
Battle of Alamance
Alamance Battleground Momument
Schools, Libraries & Orphanages
Broad Street School
In 1916, a 3-story brick building replaced earlier frame school buildings on the Broad Street site at a cost of $40,000. It later became Broad Street Junior High School and was demolished in 1970.
Graham Graded School
Graham Graded School was constructed on North Main Street in 1903. It had 9 grades and served as both an elementary and high school for many years.
Hillcrest School
Hillcrest School was originally known as First Ward School and it was first occupied in January 1931 with grades one through seven. The school operated 62 years at that location and then moved to another site in 1993.
Mebane Graded School
Mebane Graded School was constructed on Lane Street sometime between 1905 and 1910. It had 8 classrooms serving 10 grades. The school building was demolished in 1972.
May Memorial Library (Burlington)
The library building on Spring Street was first constructed in 1918 as a post office. In 1938 it was purchased by Mr. W.H. May and given to the city to become a public library in memory of Mr. May's deceased wife.
Christian Orphanage at Elon
In 1907, the Southern Christian Convention purchased 111 acres south of Elon College for a home for children. It was later known as Elon Homes for Children.
World War I
Many alamance County soldiers in World War I were members of Company I, 30th Division, 120th Infantry. The 30th Division was known as the "Old Hickory Division" for Andrew Jackson and was initially composed of National Guard units from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Bayonette Drills
Cavalry on the Move
Doughboys on Hike
Field Battery
Kaiser Wilhelm
Repairing a Man of War
Uncle Sam
Churches
First Presbyterian Church (Burlington)
Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter (Burlington)
Transportation
Streetcar Barn (Burlington)
The hub of the trolley car operations in Burlington was a car barn on Rainey Street. It later became City Laundry and then burned in a large fire in 1941.
Streetcars in Haw River
Several trolley car motormen pose in front of the bridge at Haw River. At one point, trolley conductors were paid 17 cents per hour.
Streetcars
Trolley cars operated in Alamance County between 1911 and 1923 on 8 miles of track connecting Burlington with Graham and Haw River.
Business & Industry
Aurora Cotton Mills
Aurora Mills was founded in 1885 by Lawrence S. Holt, Sr. on the site of the former Lafayette Mills. The large building at E. Webb Ave. and Everette Street was later owned by Kayser Roth during the 1950s.
Bellevue Mills #1
Bellevue Mills was a textile mill on the east side of Burlington that operated between about 1905 and 1912. It was operated by the Bellevue Mills company of New Jersey. It was previously owned by the Holts and known as Windsor Cotton Mills.
E.M. Holt Textile Mill Pioneer
Kingsdown Mebane
Kingsdown began manufacturing mattresses in Mebane under the name Mebane Bedding Company in 1904 with fewer than 10 employees.
Piedmont Trust Company
The Piedmont Trust Co. building was constructed in 1906 at the corner of S. Main and Andrews Streets to house a financial institution that was founded around 1899. It later became a hotel and then was demolished in the 1970s.
White Furniture Company Mebane
White Furniture was founded by brothers Dave and Will White in 1881. It produced furniture continuously for 112 years before closing in 1993. The postcard represents the "new" plant built after a devastating 1923 fire.