Briggs Hardware Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Briggs Hardware Building
|
|
Briggs Hardware Building
|
|
 Location in North Carolina
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | 220 Fayetteville St., Raleigh, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1874 |
| Part of | Fayetteville Street Historic District |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001372 |
| Added to NRHP | October 25, 1973 |
The Briggs Hardware Building is a historic four-story building. It is located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Thomas Briggs built it in 1874 for his family's hardware store. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Today, the building is home to the City of Raleigh Museum. It is owned by a group of non-governmental organizations.
Contents
Briggs Hardware Store History
In the 1850s, Thomas H. Briggs opened his hardware store. It was on Fayetteville Street in Raleigh. He first partnered with James Dodd. In 1868, the store became Thomas H. Briggs & Sons.
Business was very good for the family. In 1874, Briggs built a brand new building. This new building had four stories. People called it Raleigh's first "skyscraper". It was the tallest building in Raleigh for 33 years!
The Briggs Hardware store stayed in this building for a long time. It served the city from this spot until 1995. Then, the store moved to a new location outside downtown. The hardware store is still owned and run by the Briggs family today.
The Legend of Briggs' Gold
After the building was finished, a special story started to spread. It was a legend about how Thomas Briggs could afford such a big building. This was right after the American Civil War.
The legend says that before Union soldiers came to Raleigh in 1865, Briggs changed all his Confederate money into gold and silver coins. He put the coins inside pipes. Then, he found a special group of trees and buried the money there. He wanted to keep the Union soldiers from taking it.
When the soldiers arrived, they camped near those trees. They cut the trees down. After the troops left, Briggs supposedly spent years looking for his hidden money. When he finally found the coins, he used them to build his new hardware store.
Other Uses of the Building
The lower floors of the building were always used for hardware sales. But the upper levels were used for many different things over the years.
In the 1890s, a group called the Oak City Guard rented space. They used it for drill practice. Later, Raleigh's first YMCA was located here. A Lutheran church also met in the building. Even the Raleigh Little Theater used some space. Many lawyers and insurance companies had offices there too.
What the Building Looks Like
Thanks to the Briggs family and people who wanted to save old buildings, the Briggs Hardware Building looks much like it did in 1874.
The front of the building shows a fun style from the 1800s. It uses red brick with light-colored details. This was popular in the high Victorian Gothic style. The decorative parts over the windows, called hoods and drip molds, look like medieval designs. The tall, fancy cornice at the top shows the influence of the Italianate style.
The building has four stories, plus a basement. The original wooden floors are still inside.
The building is very long, stretching a whole city block. It goes between Fayetteville and Salisbury Streets. Other long buildings are on either side of it. This means the inside is long and narrow, with no windows on the sides.
In the middle of the building, there is an open space that goes up to windows on the roof. This acts like a skylight for all four floors above ground. Since there was no electricity in 1874, this skylight was very important to bring light inside!
Images for kids
-
Historic view of Briggs Hardware Building
