Columbia’s ghost signs have a history to tell
Ghost signs are the faded remnants of vintage advertisements, often painted on the sides or fronts of buildings, offering a window into the building’s past. Given Cola’s rich history, ghost signs can be spotted on buildings throughout downtown.
Prior to 1960 and the introduction of large format vinyl printing , branding + advertisements were often painted on buildings. In the Soda City, some of the most visible ones can still be seen on Adluh’s three 101-foot-high grain elevators + red neon sign, or on the front of Cola’s — which was home to The Royal Crown Cola Bottling Company in the 1930s.
As the stories of many of these buildings have been lost to time, today we’ll take a glance at the history of the building at the corner of Gervais and Lincoln Streets. It’s currently home to Liberty Tap Room , a bar + grill that serves traditional American cuisine.
Built in 1902 as a grocery warehouse by the E.A. Beall Company, buyers from small towns throughout SC would travel to Columbia to purchase pantry staples + “fancy groceries” from the food wholesaler. The building’s storefront housed the pharmacy of Mayor F.S. (Fort Sumter) Earle and was also the location of Columbia’s first post office sub-station. Later, the building was home to Britt-Clary, a food brokerage company based in the capital city.
DYK — downtown neighborhood Earlewood was named for the former mayor, pharmacist, and community leader?
After over 25 years of renovations and adaptive reuse projects to revitalize the Congaree Vista , the building was renovated in 2003.
Here’s where we need your help — in the alley between Liberty Tap Room and Hampton Inn, there is a ghost sign for Lincoln Street Cafe. The only mention
we were able to track down was that it was a short-lived restaurant located there in the mid-1990s.
Let us know if you know any more about this Vista ghost sign.