This building housed pioneers of Columbia’s 20th century boom. Now it’s being restored

A widow, a service representative at a phone company, a cigar salesman and a state hospital clerk were among the residents who called Columbia’s historic Beverly Apartments home through the 1940s.

They were part of a growing number of people getting white-collar jobs in and relocating to the city’s bustling center, which began to blossom at the turn of the 20th century.

The three-story Beverly Apartments building has stood empty for nearly 20 years, estimates Historic Columbia preservation director John Sherrer. But now, local developers Cason Development Group and Cohn Corporation are reviving the Romanesque structure, hoping again to welcome downtown residents into its hearth.

The Beverly’s redevelopment is significant not only because of how long it has sat empty, but also because of the role it and similar apartments of its time played in the story of Columbia.

Built in 1912 as downtown dwelling was just beginning to take off in the South Carolina capital, the Beverly Apartments building at 1525 Bull St. helped start a trend of city-center living.

The textile mills Columbia became known for were drawing more people, and more money, into the city. Apartment buildings were a new idea, and were more elegant than the shabby flats above storefronts that were typical before apartment buildings, explained historic preservation consultant Janie Campbell.

Before the Beverly came the Marlboro Apartments, constructed in 1911. Apartments including the Charles Edward, the Kirkland and the Nada also were erected during this decade.

“Contrary to popular belief, these early apartments did not generally house students or professors, but rather salesmen, professionals and sometimes widows,” according to a historic summary included in the redevelopment plans for the Beverly.

Indeed, the Beverly Apartments exemplified that trend perfectly.

James Love, a clerk of some kind, lived with his wife, Vannie, and their child just one apartment down from John, a bookkepper, and Rena Hedgepath. A cigar salesman, as well as a representative for the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph company also occupied the building at the same time, at least between the years 1942 and 1948, according to Sherrer, who excavated the names from old city directories and apartment registries to showcase a snapshot of life in the building.

It was probably a pretty good place to live, given that most residents stayed for the better part of a decade, Sherrer added.

Those residents lived through another pivotal time in Columbia’s history. When Fort Jackson became a permanent Army base in 1940, it brought with it a crush of new residents. In 1949, the Beverly’s six apartments were subdivided to create 12 units to accommodate the desperate need for housing in the city, Campbell said.

The Beverly is one of 51 named apartments built in Columbia between 1908 and 1940. By 2015, it was one of just 22 still standing, and the second-oldest, after the Marlboro Apartments on Blanding Street, according to the historic summary from Cason and Cohn’s documents.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. Campbell filed the application.

“It tells a story of where Columbia was, where it is now and where it’s going,” Campbell said when asked about the importance of preserving buildings like the Beverly Apartments. “Any chance we can get to keep what Columbia has is a win for me, it’s a win for the community.”

Sherrer, too, said he is glad to see the building revitalized rather than demolished, as so many of its contemporaries have been.

“These are folks who know how to preserve the structure while making it a genuine destination … where people would want to live,” he said of Cason and Cohn, who have redeveloped a number of historic buildings in Columbia.

When complete, the Beverly will host eight apartments, two on each floor including the basement level, according to plans filed with the city. Rooftop patios are also included in the plans.

The project recieved tentative design approval from the city’s Design/Development Review Committee Thursday.