Restoration of Post Office Welcome Downtown Addition

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

A landmark downtown building will be brought back to life by the end of the year, with a restoration returning the structure to its original look and form.

Coldwell Banker Caine is working with Preservation South to bring the building back in line with the original plans. The Beaux Arts-style building, designed by James Knox Taylor and built as the first federal post office in downtown Anderson. Construction began on the historic Anderson Post Office in 1908, which opened for business in 1909 as a hub for the community for the next three decades.

In 1941, when the post office moved to a newer building on Main Street, the structure became home for the McDougald-Bleckley. The business, founded by J.S. McDougald and operated by McDougald and partners B.B. Bleckley, D.L. Reid, and later Sam O. Sullivan. In 1930, after McDougald passed, Bill King took over as manager and when Bleckley died in 1935, King became an owner along with Reid and Sullivan. The name was changed to Sullivan-King Mortuary in 1949.

Sullivan-King left downtown and Sosebee Mortuary operated for a while in the historic building, but soon relocated as well. 

In 2021, the building was sold for $900,000 after a proposed mini-mall on the site fell through.

Coldwell Banker Caine will use the site as real estate offices, areas of public space for community use, and eventually including a restaurant with an extended patio in the basement. 

The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. The removal of the second floor added by the mortuary is complete, and plans include replicating the original lobby, complete with teller windows and vintage post office boxes.

The company is still searching for a restaurant for the basement level, but hopes to have that in place by late Spring of 2024.