Theo Buerbaum's Salisbury
Title
Theo Buerbaum's Salisbury
Subject
Historical postcards of Salisbury and Rowan County
Description
The 87 postcards in this project are from two collections from the Edith M. Clark History Room at the Rowan Public Library, The Miscellaneous Postcard Collection, MSS 9034 and The Johnny Young Postcard Collection, MSS 9908. The postcards in the project are those in some way connected with Theo Buerbaum, who was a photographer and bookstore owner in Salisbury, North Carolina from 1880-1926. Most of the postcards are from photographs he took, but others are ones that bear the imprint of his bookstore in some way. Included with the images are short histories researched by our staff of the events, places, or people depicted in the postcard. Our collection includes the images of Theo Buerbaum’s postcards, but this is by no means all that he produced. We are always looking out for images we do not have and we will happily take other donations.
Creator
Rowan Public Library
Date
1880-1926
Rights
The materials in this collection are made available courtesy of Rowan Public Library for use in research and private study. Images and text may not be used without prior permission from Rowan Public Library, Edith M. Clark History Room.
Collection Items
1st Grade Planting in Garden
Salisbury NC Graded School 1st Grade planting in garden.
In the 17th century, school gardens began to be seen in Europe. By 1869, there was an Austrian mandate that all schools must have a garden. Similar mandates followed in other European…
2nd Grade, Batavia System
The Salisbury Graded School at some point must have instituted the Batavia System of education. The Batavia System of Individual Instruction, byJohn Kennedy, published in Syracuse, N.Y. by C.W. Bardeen in 1914 is a method of classroom organization…
8th Grade Football Team
Salisbury N. C. Graded School, 8th Grade Football Team.
Not a usual team shot, as the boys are in suits, not uniforms, but they are showing their purpose with the football (dated 1907). Team sports as part of the regular school activities did not…
Advertising Card #1
An image of someone who must have been recognizable at the time, but we have been unable to identify him thus far. On the reverse side of this card is Theo Buerbaum’s Book Store ad: “School books, school-stationery, photo and autograph albums. …
Advertising Card #2
On the reverse side of this picture is Theo Buerbaum’s Book Store ad: “School books, school-stationery, photo and autograph albums. Largest stock of Christmas goods in Salisbury, wedding and birthday cards, picture frames made to order, all sizes…
Ballard Industrial Hall
Ballard Industrial Hall was constructed in 1887 from bricks made from the clay pits on campus. Students in the Industrial Department performed most of the work. The building was named for Stephen F. Ballard and has been used as a main classroom…
Baptist Church
Baptist Church, Salisbury, NC
The First Baptist Church was organized in 1849 with eighteen charter members. The Jersey Baptist Church of Davidson County provided guidance for this. In 1892, a one-room building was erected at North Church and West…
Chemistry Class in Laboratory
Salisbury, N.C. Graded School A Chemistry Class in Laboratory.
As early as 1854, a “practical” education was advocated for public High Schools. As a result, education in the latter part of the 19th century moved away from the teaching of the…
Chilean Drag-Mill and Rockers
The machinery used for separating gold consisted of the Chilean mill for crushing and grinding after having been broken by hammers, the Tyrolese bowls, the drag-mill, and the Burke rockers.
The Chilean mill was used from ancient times and when it…
Confederate Monument
Confederate Monument Salisbury, N.C.
Located at West Innes and Church Streets, “Fame,” the Confederate monument, honors Rowan County’s soldiers who fought heroically in the Civil War. The sculptor was Frederick W. Ruckstuhl and the statue stands 14…
Confederate States' Money
The postcard shows a $20.00 Confederate States of America, 6th Issue, bill issued April 6, 1863. The note has the Tennessee state capital building in Nashville and Vice-president Alexander H. Stephens of Confederate States.
The poem below the bill…
Corner Jackson and Fisher Streets
On the corner of Jackson and Fisher Streets was the home of Leo Cohen Wallace, Sr. (ca 1910-15). To the rear of the Wallace home is the home of Richard Eames, Jr. on South Jackson Street. Today, both houses are still standing and the Rowan Public…
Court House
Court House, Salisbury N.C.
No series—Pub. by Theo Buerbaum, Salisbury N.C.
The Rowan County Courthouse built in 1855 is one of North Carolina’s most important Greek Revival buildings. Local contractors Conrad & Williams erected the structure. …
Drive in National Cemetery
Drive in National Cemetery, Salisbury N.C.
No series no. Published by Theo Buerbaum, Salisbury, N.C.
Empire Hotel #1
Empire Hotel Salisbury N.C.
No series listed.
An early view with the twin domes on the roof.
History of the Empire Hotel
The Empire Hotel began as the Boyden House. Nathaniel Boyden started the building in 1855 and according to an ad in the…
Faculty Avenue
Monroe Street, formerly Statesville Road and College Avenue, was commonly known as “Faculty Avenue.” This area is part of the Livingstone College Historic District. The first home pictured was that of James E. K. Aggrey, member of the faculty, and…
Faith Reformed Church
The cornerstone of Faith Reformed Church, located at the corner of West Horah and South Church Streets, was laid September 2, 1897. The church name changed to First Reformed Church on May 4,1919. In 1934, the church became First Evangelical and…
First Methodist Church and Parsonage
The First Methodist Church was formed between 1780 and 1784 as part of the Yadkin Circuit. The church building and parsonage pictured here were approved for construction in 1857. A. B. Herndon designed this Romanesque style church. It was…
Graded School and Superintendent's Residence
Salisbury, N.C. Graded School and Superintendent’s Residence.
Even though laws establishing public education were enacted in 1839, in Salisbury prior to the Civil War, there was little progress in public education. Following the war, public schools…
Grubb Building
Salisbury distiller Clay Grubb began construction of his “skyscraper” in early 1900 at the corner of Main and Innes Streets. The building, a Beaux-Arts styled commercial building, stands seven and one half stories tall. Joseph Fels, millionaire…
Gymnasium
Salisbury, N.C. Graded School Gymnasium
Exercise class using Indian clubs circa 1907.
The Indian Club is an exercise devise with a fanciful tale attached to it in the “Emperor’s New Clothes” tradition. It seemed that the luxurious job of being king…
Hoist and Office of Gold Hill Copper Co.
Hoist and office of Gold Hill Copper Company.
The hoist house was directly over the 750 foot deep Randolph shaft, the deepest gold mine shaft in the south. In the 1850s over 300 hands worked in the mines at Gold Hill.
Post Card Series No. 0173 –…
In Fulton Heights Park
As an inducement to people to buy lots in the new Fulton Heights neighborhood, Salisbury’s first development outside of the city’s boundaries, promoters opened Fulton Heights Park in 1906. The July 4th celebration included a sunrise salute, parade,…
Interior of Machine Shop
The Back Shop structure was built in 1905 and served as the major overhaul facility for steam locomotives where they were disassembled with the aid of a crane. Parts were re-machined on Lathes and milling machines before the locomotives were…
Joe Ballard #1
Joe Ballard, born December 20, 1825, was a beloved figure in Salisbury. He was the slave of Miss Margaret Ballard who married John M. Horah, Clerk of Superior Court. Ballard continued working for them after the Civil War had ended. He was a skilled…
Joe Ballard #2
Joe Ballard, born December 20,1825, worked as a skilled blacksmith until he was a very old man. He was a weather prophet, politician and philosopher and one of Salisbury’s most notable citizens. He died February 25, 1917 and was buried with Masonic…
Kesler Cotton Mill
The Kesler Cotton Mill was organized in 1895. It was named for Tobias Kesler, a wealthy farmer and the mill’s largest stockholder. Other stockholders included Napoleon Bonaparte McCanless, D. R. Julian, O. D. Davis, and the Rev. Francis Murdock. …
Looking North from Grubb Building, showing Sanatorium
Viewing Salisbury from atop the Grubb Building in the early 1900s. Looking north shows the First Baptist Church and the Whitehead-Stokes Sanitarium.
No series no. The Albertype Co. Brooklyn, NY
Source: Sides, Susan Salisbury and Rowan County…
Macadamized Roads #1
Macadam is an angular aggregate of stone used for paving without any binding medium to hold the stones together. The macadamized road consisted of multiple layers of crushed stone: the largest stones at the bottom, then another layer of fist-sized…
Macadamized Roads #2
Another view of macadamized roads with Buerbaum’s son.
No. 1241 Buerbaum’s Bookstore, Salisbury N.C.
Main Street #1
Main Street, Salisbury, N.C. Looking North East
In 1905, a street railway connected the city of Salisbury with Spencer, a town of growing importance. About 1902 the Southern Development Company began building a new subdivision, Fulton Heights,…
Main Street #2
In the center of the square in Salisbury at the intersection of Innes and Main Streets was a fountain installed in 1888 for watering horses and for fire protection. The fountain was called “Rebecca of the Well.” It had to be moved to make way for…
Main Street #3
Main Street Looking North, Salisbury N.C.
This image was taken in the early 1900s, prior to the streetcars. This area near the courthouse had a shoe store, grocer, hardware, clothing, drug store, barber shop, cotton broker, and a machinery company…
Main Street #4
Main Street Salisbury, N.C.
Main Street Salisbury looking southwest in the early 1900s. The picture was taken before many of the electrical and telegraph lines and streetcar tracks were installed in the early part of the century.
The Albertype Co.…
Mansion House Corner
The Mansion House was built in 1823 on the corner of Main and Innes Street on the site that later held the Grubb-Wallace Building. It became known as the largest and best-known hotel in Rowan County, and it was a center of political activity. Late…
McElroy and High Ridge Tunnels,
in Blue Ridge on Western North Carolina Railroad
In the Blue Ridge Mountains between Old Fort and Ridgecrest, North Carolina, there are seven tunnels, including McElroy and High Ridge. These tunnels are part of the Carolina Division of Southern Railway.
Pub. by Theo Buerbaum, Salisbury,…
Meroney's Theatre
Meroney Theatre Home of the Masons and Old Hickory Club, Seating Capacity 1200
The second Meroney Theatre opened in 1905 on South Main Street. The first Meroney Opera House had been owned by brothers T. J. and P.P Meroney, who purchased a building…
Michael Braun Graveyard, Near the Old Rock House
The Michael Braun Graveyard near the Old Rock House, Salisbury, N.C. Series 0250 Raphael Tuck & Sons.
Narrows of the Yadkin
The Narrows of the Yadkin
The Narrows of the Yadkin was an area in Montgomery and Stanly Counties where the river’s flow was constricted by the Uwharrie Mountains. Anson, Davidson, Montgomery, Randolph, Richmond, Rowan, and Stanly counties in the…
National Cemetery
National Cemetery, Salisbury, N. C.
Pub. By Theo Buerbaum, Salisbury N. C.Salisbury Historic National Cemetery https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/salisbury.asp
Nazareth Orphans' Home #1
A Group of Children at the Nazareth Orphans’ Home, Crescent, N. C.
Raphael Tuck & Sons’ Post Card Series No. 0201 “Salisbury, N.C.”
Nazareth Orphans' Home #2
Raphael Tuck & Sons’ Post Card Series No. 0201 “Salisbury, N.C.” Phototyped in Berlin
Nazareth Orphans' Home - Main Building
The Main Building of the Nazareth Orphan’s Home, Crescent, N.C.
Raphael Tuck & Sons’ Post Card Series No. 0201 “Salisbury, NC” phototyped in Berlin.Nazareth Child and Family Connectionhttps://www.nazcfc.org/
Nazareth Orphans' Home - Ready for Work
Ready for Work at the Nazareth Orphan’s Home, Crescent N.C.
Raphael Tuck & Sons’ Post Card Series No. 0201 “Salisbury, N.C.”
The New Passenger Depot
This front view of the depot was a popular postcard, obviously from a drawing rather than a photograph.
No series, no number.WVNC RAILS - Lost Salisbury http://www.wvncrails.org/lost-salisbury.html
Office and Hoist of the Gold Hill Copper Co.
Gold was first discovered here in 1842. Over the next fourteen years, production at the various mines totaled two million dollars. The mines produced less and less and ceased operations at the beginning of the Civil War. Gold Hill is now a…
Office, Hoist and Gold Mill of Gold Hill Copper Co.
Another view of the Office, Hoist, and Gold Mill.
Raphael Tuck & Sons’ Postcard Series No. 0173 “Salisbury, NC”Historic Gold Hillhttp://historicgoldhill.com/
Old Log Rocker Method
The log rocker was a part of the gold milling process. After the ore came out of the shaft, it was hauled to the mill house where it was broken down manually by cobbers and then as many as five other processes might have been applied to mill the ore…