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Then and now
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Local residents poured into a flag-draped downtown last week in anticipation of Sylva’s annual Fourth of July celebration (lower photo), but they didn’t approach the crowd that packed Main Street on Sept. 9, 1936, to welcome President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who can be seen in the back seat of the first car (top photo) waving his hat to the crowd. Though the photo angle could not be exactly replicated, the two images are close enough to show that all of the buildings visible in the top photo are still standing except for the building that housed Stovall’s Cafe, which was then located to the right of the C.J. Harris Building (now Jackson’s General Store). The Harris Building, constructed around 1903, housed Sylva Supply Co. for some 95 years until that business closed in June 1999; Jackson’s General opened four months later. The Stovall building was torn down around 1938 and replaced by a new building for the cafe, and that structure is now part of Blackrock Outdoor Co. In the years between Stovall’s closing and Blackrock’s opening, the building housed the men’s side of Dennis Men’s and Ladies Store and was home to Frank Frick’s Man’s Store before that. The taller building, visible in both photos that now makes up the other half of Blackrock once housed the clothing store, The Leader, then was Dollar General before becoming half of Dennis’ store. Moving to the left of Jackson’s General, present businesses include, from right, Bradley’s (formerly Bessie May & Co., Wilson Insurance, Blue Ribbon Shoe and Professional Drugstore; prior to that the store housed Bower’s Dept. Store.); Hollifield’s (formerly Sylva Pharmacy); Guadalupe Cafe (formerly Hooper’s Snack Bar and Hooper’s Drugstore); Lulu’s (formerly Velt’s Cafe on one side and Stovall’s Dime Store on the other); SunTrust (formerly Jackson County Bank); Vance Hardware (formerly Farmer’s Federation, which was also once located in the left side of Lulu’s and prior to that, Sylva Supply Hardware); Jewelry Outlet and Main Street Apartments (formerly Hotel Lloyd – at one time Jackson Savings was in the present Jewelry Outlet location; Drifters Beauty Salon currently occupies the old hotel lobby). – Herald file photo (top) and Herald photo by Nick Breedlove. |
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