Woodbury lost another piece of its architectural history early Saturday morning, January 14th, 2012. A multi-alarm fire ripped through the 1870 John W. Thompson Sr.'s Grocery Store. The building was so badly damaged it was demolished later that day. Fortunately the 91 year old resident escaped with his life. His son had just replaced the batteries in all of the smoke detectors in the house.
"John W. Thompson Sr.'s grocery store on the southwest corner of Penn and Glover Streets was opened around 1870 and was in operation for three generations. Thompson's featured its own delivery service, which brought fresh poultry and produce to homeowners on a daily basis. The store closed in 1956 and later became the Colonial Electric Shop." (Sands, 2006) "The house was purchased by John W. Thompson, Jr., glassblower, in 1885. His father, John W. Thompson, Sr. died in 1891. Sr. lived in the house a year or so before he died. John W. Thompson, Jr. had a son John W. Thompson, who ran the store until he died in 1935. The last John W. Thompson mentioned fathered a fourth John W. Thompson who died of pneumonia in his youth (about 1917)." This house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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| 1984 image of the Thompson House. |
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| 2010 image by Ton2cats |
I just visited the site and all that is left is a smoldering pile of debris surrounded by a still lovely decorative Victorian iron gate, which must have been added after the above photo. A sad sight indeed. Smoke detectors may not be the most sightly and stylish of objects, especially in Victorian homes, but they do save lives and in many cases the dwelling, which was not the case this time around.
Sands, R. W. (2006). Woodbury: Images of America. (p. 128). Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing.
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