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For Immediate Release
Contact: Director Fred Goss, 373-2306
Welcome to the Gate City! Grand Opening Saturday, October 7, 2006
A new exhibition at the Greensboro Historical Museum, on permanent exhibition at the Greensbafter that date.
In the years just before and after the turn of the 20th century, Greensboro transformed itself from a small Southern town to a New South city. Together, the railroads, the mills, the colleges, the industries, and the entrepreneurial energy of local people brought about this change.
Welcome to the Gate City! takes visitors back to the early 1900s and into reconstructions of the Hotel Clegg, Richardson & Fariss Drugstore, Crystal Theatre, Steam Fire Engine Company No. 1 and a Telephone Exchange, to discover how Greensboro became a vibrant city of the New South.
Designed as a hands-on and experiential gallery, Welcome to the Gate City! offers visitors the chance to concoct a remedy, create a short story, view vintage moving pictures, find out about firefighting in years past, ring a bell for a hotel clerk, and use an old-fashioned telephone system.
Exhibition Highlights
Hotel Clegg
Proprietor William F. Clegg arrived in Greensboro in 1884. He opened a restaurant in 1890 and the hotel the following year. Providing quick meals for locals and modern accommodations for travelers allowed Clegg to expand in 1894. A superb location at 368 South Elm Street, across from the 1899 Southern Passenger Depot and in the heart of Greensboro’s business district, assured Mr. Clegg’s success.
Richardson & Fariss Drugstore
A shop at 121 South Elm Street launched two Greensboro success stories. In the first, Will Porter worked here with his uncle, W.C. “Clark” Porter, from 1879 until 1882. He later established himself as the writer, O. Henry. As for the second, in 1890, Mr. Lunsford Richardson and Mr. John Fariss bought the store, and here Richardson first sold his famous Vick’s Family Remedies.
Steam Fire Engine Company No. 1
The General Greene steam fire engine, one example of Greensboro’s first–rate fire equipment, moved to 108 West Gaston Street (now West Friendly Avenue) when the fire house opened in 1888. The city took great pride in its ability to prevent and fight fires. Volunteer fire companies, both white and African American, provided the skill and courage required to battle the flames that could otherwise rob residents of their homes and livelihoods.
The Crystal Theatre
Greensboro’s first theatre for moving pictures—also presenting illustrated songs and refined vaudeville—occupied the ground level of a building at 360 South Elm Street. The reconstructed theatre features vintage moving pictures of firefighters in action and children at play, plus a 2006 newsreel on Greensboro history.
Miss Lina Porter’s Schoolhouse
Each year, for roughly two decades beginning in 1872, Miss Evelina Porter (1832-1897) taught as many as forty children in a one-room schoolhouse beside her home at 430 West Market Street. Her passion for literature, storytelling, and drawing inspired many pupils, especially her nephew, Will, who received most of his formal education from her between 1867 and 1877. Visitors to Greensboro probably know William Sidney Porter by his penname, O. Henry, the famous author of more than 300 short stories.
Telephone Exchange
Visitors will take a seat and headset and assume the role of a telephone operator, connecting calls and listening in on re-created snippets of conversation that reveal the activity and diversity of life in early 20th-century Greensboro.
Opening Day Events on Saturday, October 7:
- WMAG-FM 99.5 live radio remote (12 noon - 2 pm)
- Strolling characters from the 5 by O. Henry plays
- Gallery hosts and hostesses
- Free copies of Greensboro Everything magazine, hot off the 1904 presses!
- Memberships drawings throughout the day
- Discount coupons for the Museum Gift Shop
Opportunity to tour ten other galleries and two historic houses
Funding & Design:
Welcome to the Gate City!, a renovation of nearly 3,000 square feet at a cost of a little over $500,000, has received major funding from the estates of Reed and Martha DeVane and Marion Stedman Covington, and the Cemala Foundation, along with support from the Greensboro Historical Museum, Incorporated, a membership organization open to any interested person. Professional design was provided by Malone Design/Fabrication of Georgia, in collaboration with the museum staff. Media sponsors include the News and Record, WFMY News 2, Fairway Outdoor Advertising, 99.5 WMAG, and 104.1 WTQR.
The Greensboro Historical Museum:
The Greensboro Historical Museum, a facility of the City of Greensboro, has been accredited by the American Association of Museums since 1984 and a Smithsonian Affiliate since 2006. The museum is located downtown at the intersection of Summit Avenue and Lindsay Street. Admission is free, and free parking is available in two museum lots on Lindsay and Church streets.
For more information, call (336) 373-2043 or visit Greensboro Historical Museum Website.
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