Newberry’s Historic Downtown Landmarks

Newberry is an historic town in the midlands of South Carolina. A number of buildings in the downtown area are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Some buildings are pre-Civil War structures, and others date to the Victorian era. Today these restored properties in the center of the community contain shops, galleries, and restaurants. Several of these buildings are recognizable landmarks to residents and visitors of Newberry.
The Old Courthouse, at 1109 Main Street, is one of the oldest buildings downtown. It was built in 1852 as Newberry County’s 4th courthouse and continued in government use until 1906. It was designed by Jacob Graves, a noted Columbia architect who designed several buildings on the University of South Carolina campus. The Greek Revival style building has six Tuscan columns supporting its front portico. After a new courthouse was built, the Old Courthouse served as a community hall and public parlor. Today it houses Newberry’s Visitors Center. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Old Courthouse was replaced in 1908 by the current Neoclassical style Courthouse, located at 1226 College Street.

The Newberry Opera House is the most widely recognized building downtown. The French Gothic style structure with its 130 foot clock tower was built in 1881 to house county offices, the fire department, and a community auditorium. The Opera House was a gathering place for the community, and was the site of dances, commencement exercises, lectures, and meetings. It was the venue for plays, variety shows, and musical entertainment. In the 1920s the building was remodeled as a movie theater. After a major renovation in the 1990s, the Opera House was reopened as a state of the art entertainment venue. Today more than 200 events each year are held at the facility, drawing an estimated 100,000 people to town. The Newberry Opera House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Next door to the Opera House is the Firehouse Conference Center. The old two-story firehouse was built in the early 1900s. The building was renovated and expanded in the Art Deco style in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In 2005 the building was renovated again and given new life as a conference center. The facility regularly hosts a variety of business events including seminars and retreats, as well as social events such as banquets and receptions.

Other notable historic buildings in downtown Newberry include the Art Deco style Ritz Theater, built in 1936. Today it is the home of the Newberry Community Players, a live theater group. The historic five-story Parr Building is Newberry’s tallest building. The building at 1117 Boyce Street, which houses Delamater’s Restaurant, was originally The Bank of Newberry. Constructed in 1852, it was the oldest bank west of Columbia. Newberry’s past has been well preserved in its many historic downtown landmarks.

By: A. Lanteigne

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Ambria Lanteigne is the General Manager at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Newberry SC Hotel. They are conveniently located at exit 76 off of I-26, about 30 minutes north of Columbia and less than an hour south of Greenville, SC. This Newberry South Carolina hotel has outstanding amenities, including an indoor pool, whirlpool and Fitness Center. For more information visit: www.NEWBERRYSOUTHCAROLINAHOTEL.COM