B.B. Kirkland Seed and Distributing Company warehouse
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = B.B. Kirkland Seed and Distributing Company
| nrhp_type =
| image = KirklandSeedNRHP.JPG
| alt =
| caption = West elevation of 912 Lady St
| locmapin =
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|34|0|3.6|N|81|2|18.6|W|display=inline,title}}
| location = 912 Lady St, Columbia, South Carolina
| area = {{convert|0.14|acre|m2}}
| built = 1916
| architect =
| architecture = Early Commercial
| added = 2 March 1979
| mpsub = {{NRHP url|id=64000767|title=Columbia MRA}}
| refnum = 79003370{{NRISref|version=2010a}}
}}
The B.B. Kirkland Seed and Distributing Company is a three-story historic warehouse building at 912 Lady Street in Columbia, South Carolina.{{Cite web | title = B. B. Kirkland Seed and Distributing Company | work = National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory | date = November 1978 | url = http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/richland/S10817740043/S10817740043.pdf | access-date = 19 August 2012}}{{Cite web | title = B. B. Kirkland Seed and Distributing Company, Richland County (912 Lady St., Columbia) | work = National Register Properties in South Carolina | publisher = South Carolina Department of Archives and History | url = http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/richland/S10817740043/index.htm | access-date = 19 August 2012}} It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
History
Benjamin Brown Kirkland, a prominent local businessman, started the Kirkland Distributing Company in 1900 and incorporated it in 1908.{{cite book |title=History of South Carolina, Volume IV |last=Snowden |first=Yates |author2=Harry Gardner Cutler |year=1920 |publisher=The Lewis Publishing Company |location=Chicago and New York |page=44 }} He built his warehouse in 1916 on the site that farmers had used as a campground when visiting Columbia to sell their products on nearby Assembly Street. They chose the campsite because of three natural springs there, and one spring still flows in the basement of the building today. The exterior of the building is made of brick, with inset marble decorations and arched windows. Each of the three floors of the building is {{convert|70|ft}} by {{convert|80|ft}}, with {{convert|15|ft}} ceilings. The natural spring rises in the northwest corner of the full basement and promptly runs down a drain.{{cite book |title=Names in South Carolina Vol XXVII |last=Neuffer |first=Claude H. |year=1980 |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |page=25 }}
Kirkland sold a variety of products, including flour, grain and hay. In 1918, Kirkland Distributing lost a case in appellate court to the Aunt Jemima Mills Company. Kirkland's trademark of an African-American boy holding a watermelon under his chin was ruled to infringe upon the trademarked image of Aunt Jemima with her red and black shawl tied beneath her neck.{{cite journal |year=1919 |title=Ousts "Aunt Jemima's" Colored Rival |journal=Printers' Ink |publisher=Printers' Ink Publishing Company |volume=106 |pages=156 }}
In 1966 the building became the home of the Hinson Feed and Seed Company. Hinson closed his business in 1995.{{cite news |title=Downtown Landmark Closing \ Feed Store Ending 51-Year History |newspaper=The State |date=14 January 1995 |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/CS/lib00043,0EB58430CFDEE770.html }} By the 1990s the district of old warehouses and textile mills abutting Gervais Street was recast as the Congaree Vista, and trendy business, bars and restaurants began to move into renovated buildings. Presently the B.B. Kirkland Seed and Distributing Company building houses a number of businesses, most notably American Specialty Health, Inc. and the City Art Gallery.
References
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External links
- {{NRHP url|id=79003370|title=NRHP record for Reference Number 79003370}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina}}
Category:Buildings and structures in Columbia, South Carolina
Category:Industrial buildings completed in 1916
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Columbia, South Carolina