Baptist University (B.U.W.) Raleigh, N.C. [Updated]
This week we feature a beautifully tinted early postcard depicting the Baptist University for Women, now known as Meredith College. Our card shows its original building on Blount Street.
And the brief, hand-written message on the back says it all.
Plenty of Girls here. [signed] O.D.G.
Now, I don’t know if our correspondent was a Raleigh resident, or was just passing through town at the time, but when he mailed this card to his buddy Paul Schninke in 1909, the B.U.W. had certainly caught his eye, and had apparently made a favorable impression on him!
This divided back, chromolith postcard was published by the Paul C. Koeber Co. of New York and printed in Germany.
Paul C. Koeber Co. (PCK)Â Â 1900-1923
85 Franklin Street. New York, NY and Kirchheim, GermanyPublished national view-cards and illustrations in chromolithography and in black & white. Much of their color work has a dark heavy feel to it because of the many thick layers of ink they used. In their later years they published postcards using tinted halftones.
After Meredith College moved to its West Raleigh campus in 1925, the Mansion Park Hotel occupied the grand building on Blount St. until 1951. The yellow brick gate posts, which still stand at the site, date from the hotel era.
Mansion Park Hotel — Reasonable Rates — Raleigh’s Most Comfortable Hotel — Free Parking Space — 122 Rooms — 100 Baths — Headquarters Carolina Motor Club (AAA)
This ‘white border’ postcard dates from ca. 1930.
“Flashback Friday†is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week-end treat!
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04/24/2011
My parents stayed at the Park Mansion on their honeymoon in the late 40’s. I spoke of the hotel to her just this afternoon after seeing this article. She said she still has packed away a thick terry bathmat she took from the hotel as a memento. I remember it on the bathroom floor when I was young boy. It had Park Mansion Hotel embroidered along the edge. I always look for the brick columns when I drive up Blount Steet.
04/25/2011
Al — I’ve updated this post with a card showing the Mansion Park Hotel ca 1930. The brick gate posts are still there today, albeit worse for the wear over the decades.
04/25/2011
I love my Alma Mater. You know what they say “Meredith Girls, Best in the World” -ADL’10
04/25/2011
Raleigh Boy-Sorry…I did know the posts were there today. I should have said I always look for them to make sure that they were still there. The 1930 postcard shows round globes on top of the posts. They were probably long gone before my time.
04/25/2011
The globes were long gone before my time, too, Al.
ADL — Great to hear from a Meredith alumna! One of my best friends graduated there and now teaches in the art department.
02/08/2012
Raleigh Boy — Curious, who is your friend that works in the art department? I’m a 2011 Meredith art graduate! LOVE your posts, by the way.
04/13/2012
My grandfather was manager of the Mansion Park in the late ’20s or early ’30s. And my daughter went to Meredith in the late 1990s.
05/17/2016
Thank you for adding this card of Mansion Park. I just found a city directory record for my cousin who lived there in the 1930s while working in Raleigh. I had to research the place and love this postcard! May I use your photo of the Mansion Park postcard to attach to her block on my tree?