Page 20 - Greensboro, NC-GSO 2040 Comprehensive Plan

Greensboro became a major insurance and banking center in the first decades
of the twentieth century. Home to Jefferson Standard (now Lincoln Financial)
and other large life insurance companies, Greensboro was once known as “the
Hartford of South.” When it was constructed in 1929, the Jefferson Standard
Building, at the corner of Market and Elm Streets was one of the tallest and
most architecturally distinctive skyscrapers in the South. The building has
been carefully restored and remains a centerpiece of the City’s unique identity.
Security National Bank in Greensboro merged with American Commercial Bank
to form North Carolina National Bank which, through subsequent mergers and
acquisitions, is now Bank of America.

Twentieth Century Growth
Spurred by the development of streets, trolleys, and electric streetcars, Greens-
boro grew outward from the central business district. In 1923, Greensboro’s
municipal limits were extended for the third time, and the land area had grown to
18 square miles.
In 1928, the Tri-City Airport opened in the Friendship community west of Greens-
boro at the Lindley Field, which was once part of the Lindley Nurseries. Today,
with new runways, a network of highways, and a shipping hub in place, Piedmont
Triad International Airport is one of the most important economic engines of the
region.

Greensboro was selected as the site of a huge training camp and departure point
during World War II because of its excellent transportation network. The largest
military base in any American city, Overseas Replacement Depot (ORD), operated
from 1943 through 1946. After the war many of the barracks and supply quarters
were converted to industrial uses and warehouses. Today the area along East
Bessemer Avenue is still referred to as “ORD.”

Soon after World War II ended, Greensboro began to see suburban expansion
as the automobile opened up the surrounding countryside to residential de-
velopment. Greensboro’s central business district suffered in competition with
shopping centers and malls during the 1960s and 1970s, and by 1980, vacant
storefronts outnumbered active businesses. But like many American cities, a
downtown revival has been taking place and has accelerated in the last decade.

North Carolina’s first and largest Urban Renewal project was in Greensboro.
Warnersville, established shortly after the Civil War as a planned African
American community, was declared blighted in the late 1950s and slated for
redevelopment. Once a vibrant neighborhood with homes, churches, and
businesses, it was totally cleared and rebuilt with suburban-style houses
and apartments, forever altering the character of the neighborhood. African
American-owned businesses were removed, and a major thoroughfare was built
through the heart of the neighborhood.

17 |GSO 2040 Comprehensive Plan