200 W. FRANKLIN ST.

 

View north west, circa 1925 (image via UNC)

 

View north west, circa 1930 (image via UNC)

 

View north west, circa 1950 (image via UNC)

 

View north west, circa 1960 (image via UNC)

 

View north east, 1961 (via CHW)

 

The first structure on this property was a 250-seat Baptist church that was built in 1854 and dedicated May 6, 1855. The property was willed to the church by William Henry Merritt. The church had enslaved members but they left to form a separate Baptist church after the Civil War and emancipation (in September 1865), since many if not most of the other church members had been slave owners and proponents of the "Lost Cause" into the 20th century. The church was used by the Baptists until 1923 when a new church was built for them on the south west corner of Columbia and Franklin streets.

 

1915 Sanborn map excerpt

 

 

The property was sold to Masonic Lodge #408 in 1931, who utilized the building until January 1961, when they moved to the Durham Road/East Franklin Street.

 

The 1854 church was demolished in early 1961, and the property became a parking lot for the Belk-Legget-Horton department store, and was to be used for additional construction if the store expanded in the future.

 

View north, circa 1970 (via CHHS)