Raleigh’s Forgotten Painted Ads [Updated]
The painted advertisement on the side of a building is a rapidly fading artifact of urban life, much in the same way that entryway mosaic is a disappearing commercial art form. There seem to be fewer remaining examples in Raleigh than in other similarly-sized cities, probably due to the historical propensity to demolish rather than renovate and recycle the buildings in the city’s core.
The Hargett Street Treasure Chest
Hargett Street is home to the largest concentration of fading painted ads. My favorite remaining example is the Raleigh Furniture Store mural above.
Aerial view of the same mural.
A puzzling ad is above Holly Aiken’s store on the corner of Hargett and Wilmington Streets. Most is unintelligible, except for the top letters which spell out Cyclone. I am unaware of what product this represented, or if it has any ties to the old G&S Department Store that was once at that location.
Chances are you’ve seen the most prominent example, the painted advert on the Heilig-Levine Building. Its location at the near center of downtown’s hot spots could make it the most memorable.
S.H. Kress & Co
I recently spent a small amount of time wandering around downtown in tourist mode–looking up rather than straight ahead. In the process I discovered something new: Raleigh once had a Kress department store.
Kress Department Store in Asheville. Image credit: Jesse Dotson
I was familiar with the store as there is beautiful neoclassical Kress building in my hometown of Asheville. The Kress department stores were known for their unique appearance. The founder  viewed the buildings for his five-and-dime stores as works of art that beautified the urban landscape. Compared to other examples across the country, Raleigh’s Kress store seems rather plain. It is located next to the State Supreme Court Building on the corner of Morgan and Fayetteville Streets.
The Industrial Remnants
A couple of the Dillon buildings in the Warehouse District have green and yellow painted signs. The company has since relocated out of downtown.
The Melrose Knitting Mill is one of Raleigh’s few remaining former textiles buildings. Barely visible in the image above is “Melrose Knitting Mill Co.”. On the right appears to be the word “underwear”. The space is currently being transformed into a nightclub and office space.
Painting Over the Past
Image credit: Ian F.G. Dunn
As businesses relocate, go under, or simply change tastes, these artifacts get painted over. Just recently one such example was painted over on Peace Street (above).
The North Carolina Equipment Building on Hillsborough Street once had a painted rooftop sign and facade advertising the business once at the location. City ordinances once had the rooftop tractor in jeopardy when ownership of the building changed, but in the end it got to stay. Unfortunately, the original typography and colors of the business name have since been painted over.
No Longer Around
The Lawyer’s Building (former State Theater) was painted as well. It was destroyed last year to make way for the new Wake County Justice Center.
Bringing It Back
Despite the move toward vinyl or other forms of advertisement (heavily restricted by city zoning laws), there are a few who still use paint as the medium of choice. 518 West on Glenwood Avenue has a beautiful modern painted sign.
A bit more minimalist, the Oakwood Cafe sign announces it presence to motorists going down Person Street.
The grandest example may the Lincoln Theatre, with a mural of President Lincoln driving a Lincoln automobile.
Side Street is a cozy yet spacious cafe in Oakwood, about a block away from the Governor’s Mansion. A little over a year ago the exterior got a makeover, breathing new life in to one of Raleigh’s oldest restaurants. It occupies a rather unique spot – both a historic advertisement, and in great condition.
I’m fairly certain that there are more examples of these fading ads in Raleigh. What have I missed?
June 14th Update
I missed quite a few. Below are a few historic and several contemporary examples of hand painted commercial art.
One particularly dated example is the Carolina Cafe above the Berkeley Cafe.
Above are the painted commercial advertisements for the businesses in the Village Subway. It was an underground series of stores, music venues, and night clubs in Cameron Village that hosted national acts in the mid 70s to early 80s. Some of these included R.E.M., the Police, Pat Benetar, Dead Kennedys, and Black Flag among many others.
If you’re interested in this sort of thing, you should check out a fantastic flickr set of a series of hidden subway posters recently discovered in the London Underground.
After Sanders Ford dealership left downtown for the suburbs in the late 60s, the building sat empty  until Artspace took over in the 80s. They incorporated their logo into the historical painted one.
Clearscapes occupies a building in the warehouse district, with “Water Works Supplies” over their main entrance. Their business name was incorporated to the facade in the same style.
The image above was taken through the prototype for Thomas Sayre’s rings that are currently on the grounds of the NCMA.
William Cozart in the Warehouse District
06/10/2010
Is the word under ‘Cyclone’ Grocers or Grocery?
I like the way the second Side Street photo came out with the lighting and the subtle clouds in the sky.
Always a pleasure to take time out during the day and see where this site will take me.
Congratulations on being a finalist in The Independent Weekly’s Best Local Blog 2010. You deserve it (and more).
06/10/2010
Durham has a Kress building that has been converted to condos. http://www.durhamkress.com/history.html
And yes, congrats on the Indy nomination.
06/11/2010
Greensboro also has a fabulously detailed art deco Kress building, currently housing a nightclub, an event hosting facility, and I believe some offices. Plus a painted mural of the same style as the Raleigh example, but restored when the building was renovated a few years ago.
http://kressterrace.com/about/history-of-the-kress-building/
It’s too bad Raleigh’s doesn’t share the art deco/art moderne/neoclassical theme of many of the other Kress buildings across the country–but the facade appears to have been replaced at some point. I wonder what it used to look like?
06/11/2010
Thank you for this work. Invaluable.
06/12/2010
There was a ad on the side of a building in Raleigh when I was a child in the 50’s. It was for Tropicana I believe (but my memory sometimes is cloudy these days). I can remember the vivid orange colors and the elves with their green shoes. I can’t remember what building it was on but it seems it was on Downtown Blvd….around the area where Downtown & Peace meet.
06/13/2010
Awesome!!! Please don’t let these paintings go to waste!
06/14/2010
Ginny, there used to be a regional orange juice brand called Golden Tap. I remember their truck trailers had a large painting of elves drinking juice out of a tap from a very large orange. Sounds similar to what you are describing.
06/14/2010
Oh yeah– Golden Tap! I remember that OJ and those happy elves. Haven’t thought of that in years. Maybe the painted sign Ginny remembers was on the side of Newton’s Grocery and restaurant. It was located at the corner of Peace and Halifax and was demolished several years ago. Don’t actually remember the sign, but it sounds like something that would have been there.
06/14/2010
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/trucks/morton/2006/may/file0030.jpg
06/15/2010
And there are those random butterflies across the street from Sitti and Gravy, kind of behind Remedy Diner on Blount St.
P.S. This is the best photo blog ever.
06/18/2010
Love the photos! I have some pictures of our downtown area in Tucson that are very cool. I was trying to figure out the cyclone thing as well, maybe with the grocer possible angle you can figure it out, I love a good research mystery! Thanks for the great items, can’t wait to get there and see them in person!