Book Launch: North of Main

Residents of each of the neighborhoods featured in the book will be signing copies of the book from 5pm to 6pm. There will be a 30 minute panel with the authors, as well as members of the neighborhoods, moderated by Dr. Glory Boozer.

Books will be available for purchase at the event.

North of Main: Spartanburg's Historic Black Neighborhoods of North Dean Street, Gas Bottom, and Back of the College is the most in-depth Spartanburg Black history book ever produced, particularly for the years post-emancipation.

This beautiful 300-page hardcover book also includes over 150 historic photographs and maps.

New neighborhoods began emerging north of Main Street in Spartanburg, South Carolina in the 1870s as emancipated Black men and women spent their hard-won post-slavery wages to purchase lots and build homes. As the decades rolled by, they and their descendants established a string of neighborhoods encompassing hundreds of houses, stretching from modern-day Barnet Park to the edge of Spartanburg Medical Center.

North of Main is the story of how this district rose and how it disappeared. In its pages, meet the pioneering Black men and women who lived and worked in these early neighborhoods: clergymen, educators, newsmen, artisans, attorneys, physicians, activists, musicians, caregivers, and more. In the face of frequent oppression, they laid a strong foundation for those who followed them. The history of the place they built is extraordinary in its demonstration of the heroism, courage, determination, and pride of Black citizens of Spartanburg who built dynamic and historically significant neighborhoods in treacherous times.

North of Main is a sequel to the classic 2005 Hub City Press book, South of Main. Major sponsors include the City of Spartanburg, the Spartanburg Public Libraries, and Wofford College.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Chapman Cultural Center, 200 East Saint John Street, Spartanburg, United States