1927-1929 Main Street
Site of James Battery Service Station
During the early 20th century, this block of Main Street featured a mixture of residential and commercial buildings, most of which were wood framed structures. Among the brick buildings was a two-story masonry bakery, which stood very close to where today's skyscraper is located. That tract later contained the building in which brothers J.A. and H.M. James established James Battery Service Station in May 1925. Their enterprise was one of the many automobile-related businesses in this block and in those north of Elmwood Avenue that increased in number throughout the following decades. By May 1936, a new automotive company, known as Crawford's operated at the site selling used cars.
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Employees of the James Battery Service, ca. 1930. Historic Columbia collection
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James Battery Service Advertisement, The State newspaper, 1935. Courtesy Richland Library
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The Sanborn Fire Insurance Company's map of the 1900 Block of Main Street issued in 1919 illustrates the mixed nature of the block. The James brothers would later locate their enterprise in the area where the two-story masonry building containing a bakery stood. Image courtesy South Caroliniana
