Kathy Coolidge, music coordinator for the Elmwood Park Neighborhood Tour of Homes and Centennnial enjoys the rumble seat of one of the vintage cars that will be on display during the April 9 event.

Residents of Elmwood Park Neighborhood will celebrate The Great Event of 1905 with a Centennial Home Tour and special events Saturday, April 9.

Residential lots in Elmwood Park went on the auction block in May 1905. Announcements appeared for the “Great Event – the Grand Auction Sale of Choice Residential Lots at Elmwood Park, Columbia, SC.”

Kathy Coolidge, music coordinator of the Elmwood Park Home Tour and Centennial, with Model A Fords from the Palmetto A’s of SC Antique Car Club. Handbills and other advertisements described the parcels as, “Located on the northern border of the city in an area that had been home to the State Fair since 1856.”

When the fair was moved to its present location in 1903, the land was made available for residential development in the growing capital city.

After an actual Dog and Pony Show, the last official event on the grounds, the Metropolitan Land Company commenced the Grand Auction on Thursday, May 12, 1905, beginning Elmwood Park’s 100–year history as a residential community.

This year marks the neighborhood’s centennial and its 24th annual Tour of Homes.

As part of the neighborhood’s celebration, members of the Palmetto A’s of SC and Columbia’s Model A Ford Club will display antique cars along Chester Street between Lincoln and Park Streets.

Selected houses will be open to ticket holders to showcase the results of decades of renovation and revitalization efforts in this urban community. Eleven homes and gardens will be open for viewers from 9 am to 5 pm, April 9.

Musical entertainment will be featured around the neighborhood starting with an opening bagpipe march down Lincoln Street, led by neighborhood resident, Alex Campbell. At 9:15 am, the Fort Jackson’s 282nd Army Band Brass Ensemble will perform in Roy Lynch Park, followed by the Allen University Choir at 10 am.

Classical string ensemble and harpsichord, organ, banjo and keyboard players will highlight the day’s events. Columbia at the turn of the last century will be recalled musically by Harmony Happens, a barbershop quartet. The Campfire Singers, an old time folk and gospel group, will perform later in the day.

Works of local artists will be displayed on Lincoln Street porches.

The tour is presented by the Elmwood Park Neighborhood Association, a non–profit organization dedicated to the revitalization of the area. Tickets are $15 on the day of the event and can be obtained at Roy Lynch Park on Lincoln and Abbeville streets, one block north of Elmwood Avenue.

Advance tickets can also be purchased for $12 at BLACKLION, Sterling Garden Center, Cloud Nine, Vista On–The–West Antiques, High Cotton, The Happy Bookseller, Havens Gallery and all area Publix grocery stores.

Elmwood Park 2005 Home & Garden Tour

Home and garden tours

Rebecca Thomas, 1108 Bryan Street, home

Karen S. Benner & Al DePace, 2309 Clark Street, home

Warren Page & Steve Rauske, 2316 Gadsden Street, home & garden

Eddie & Tony Chibbaro, 2300 Lincoln Street, home

Betsy & Ben Boozer, 2304 Lincoln Street, garden

Sharon & Pete Kennedy, 2311 Lincoln Street, home

Beth & Brian Morris, 2330 Lincoln Street, home

Mimi Glenn & Todd Kolb, 2225 Park Street, home

& garden

Noelle & Ed Brault, 2305 Park Street, home & garden

Katie & John Dunn, 2318 Park Street, home

Shannon & Chuck Herin, 2117 Park Street, inspiration home

St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 900 Calhoun Street, church

The 2005 Tour will also feature free musical entertainment throughout the day, an exhibition by local artists, an antique car display, and complimentary trolley and horse-drawn carriage rides for all visitors. Lunch will be available for purchase in the park.

When :Saturday, April 9, 2005, 9 am–5 pm

Where :Tour begins at Roy Lynch Park at the corner of Lincoln and Abbeville Streets, one block north of Elmwood Avenue in downtown Columbia.

Tickets: $15 – Day of Tour

$12 – Advance

$10 – Groups of 10 or more

Contact Kathleen Palinski at 799-4650 for advance ticket purchase. Contacts: Rich Schedler, 2005 Home Tour chairman, 799-5455. Denise Dickinsen, publicity coordinator 376-4699

Website: www.HistoricElmwoodPark.org