Part 2: Wynnton Road paved way to progress (7.15.08)
Visionary businessman
Edward W. Swift Jr.
believed Columbus
residents would foresake
downtown to shop stores
near their homes — and
Cross Country Plaza
proved he was correct.
(Second in a series)
A country road became a boulevard, 60 feet wide with curbs, gutters and drainage. It was Wynnton Road, named for an early family that lived on the hill the road had to climb as it left downtown.
Wynnton Road brought better access to a row of rich man’s mansions around the area that now includes the Columbus Museum. But its opening in 1910 proved even more important to the growth of a town that wanted to be a city. It was good for the community and profitable for a number of local real estate investors.
At the core of those investors was John F. Flournoy.
Flournoy owned the rail line that connected Wildwood Park and downtown. He owned the park, a lakeside getaway. He owned land that became the city’s first subdivision and later Columbus High School. Together with ally Frank U. Garrard he assembled the rolling land that in 1909 became the Country Club of Columbus.
As for Garrard, the land on which the CCC was built belonged to his family and he was a member of the Muscogee County Commission that allocated $15,000 to fund improvements to Wynnton Road — a decision vital to developments that followed.
In 1910, Flournoy and Muscogee Realty Company advertised what he called, “The best proposition ever put on sale.” More than $15,000 worth of residential lots — 21 of the 52 sites being offered — was sold at auction. Cars hauled potential buyers from downtown. Fifty silver dollars were given away as prizes.
In buoyant articles in the Columbus Enquirer Sun, Flournoy bragged on neighbors buyers would have in Wynnton Heights. He said the lots were on the Columbus Railroad Company belt line and 12 minutes from the Transfer Station — failing to mention the rail line was his. One thing he did mention; “Every child of mine, and by the way, there are only nine of them, either own or will own a home in Wynnton.”
The area opened up by the road improvements also was the original home of Camp Benning. It was built in 1918 on land near Dixon Drive and Macon Road — not far from what later became Columbus Square. Flournoy was part of that too. He surveyed the property.
Changes in the area came fast: the 13th Street Viaduct in 1925, Columbus High School in 1926 and Wildwood Apartments in 1927. A section of the county that once mainly included the plantation homes of cotton barons and bankers became Columbus’ first suburban neighborhoods.
Development was slowed — if not stopped — by World War II. But as construction began anew, neighborhoods sprang up near Macon Road. Residents would prefer to shop near their homes, concluded Edward W. Swift Jr., the owner of Colonial Realty and Insurance. By 1952, he envisioned a suburban shopping center. He planned to call it Wellington Plaza.
Swift sensed new growth was coming though his numbers were flawed. He correctly noted that Columbus experienced more growth from 1930 to 1950 than any major city in Georgia, then wrongly predicted a city of 325,000 by 1980.
His hunch that people wanted to shop where they lived was valid. But in an added dose of irony, on May 10, 1956, when the ribbon was cut on Cross Country Plaza, Edward Wellington Swift Jr. was not the man in charge.
Pizza was coming soon but Allen and Gretchen Denham were remembering other nights spent at Deorio’s.
Three generations of Denhams have enjoyed the homey atmosphere of this nondescript cafe at Cross Country Plaza has kept cooking pizza while other eating establishments around town opened in a flurry and closed with a whimper.
His father called on Deorio’s as a salesman and the family lived near the shopping center so Denham ate there often as a young kid. Allen and Gretchen went there on dates and after they were married they brought their own children there.
Like other customers, he has changed — but he wouldn’t want his old friend to give up its cheap tablecloths or décor that used to be modern. When Deorio’s survived a fire that heated up more than its pizza ovens late one night, regulars like the Denhams begged owners not to change a thing. Pictures of customers on the bulletin board next to the door illustrate the story of a Columbus tradition.
The original dream was Ed Swift’s but setbacks forced him to step aside during construction. When the shopping center opened in 1956, Ben Thorpe of Pittsburgh, Pa. was the owner. He was an outsider, but nobody seemed to care.
Thirteen stores made up the original lineup at Cross Country: Kwik Chek Supermarket, Gulf Service Station, W.T. Grant’s, Schiff 's Shoe Store, Diana Shop, Thom McAnn Shoes, Mark’s Men and Boys Shop, Farmers Dairy Products, Cross Country Package Store, Plaza Bakery, Western Auto, Lee Drugs and Southern Star Supermarket.
The alumni of merchants now includes: Metcalf’s, Kiralfy’s, Cricket Shops, Squire Shop, Gilberg’s Fabrics, Dr. Jive's Record Store, Rene’s Restaurant, Winn-Dixie, A&P, Kiddie Shop, Command Systems, Original Pancake House, Prep Shop, Davison’s, Dimension’s, Ken & Company, White’s Book Store, Hickory Farms, Service Merchandise, Bombay Bicycle Club, Morrison’s Cafeteria and V.V. Vick Jewelers. Deorio’s and Plaza Barber Shop are among its oldest tenants.
Doubters who didn’t think shoppers would ever desert downtown were proven wrong. Three years after its grand opening, Cross Country's holiday celebration rivaled the Columbus tradition of Christmas at Kirven’s. More than 9,000 people, bands and choruses greeted the arrival of Santa Claus in the suburbs. The year before, the shopping center's holiday season was somewhat marred when someone tried to kidnap Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
One of the shopping center's most memorable phenomenons was a cartoon character known as Cap'n Britches. He was the heart and soul of Dimensions, a locally-owned store on the upper level that catered to 1970s young people.
Cap'n Britches appeared in newspaper ads for the store and also had a radio personna that could sell denim to anyone in the sound of his voice. Young people thought he was speaking just to them. In his heyday, the store had customers lined up out the door waiting to buy what some might consider a simple pair of bluejeans.
It eventually faded, just like the jeans it sold.
Naysayers screamed loudly when Columbus Square — “a city within a city” — opened in 1965. It was air-conditioned and it had 38 stores, including Sears and Penney’s — former downtown Columbus department stores. This would be the end of downtown shopping and likely lead to the demise of Cross Country.
Columbus Square also had the brand new Beverly Theater and its opening film was “Mary Poppins.” Women who bought tickets to the show were given an orchid. Later that day, many of those orchid-wearing women were across Macon Road shopping at Cross Country.
Columbus Square's death proved public and painful. It closed in 2001, and today it is a vacant plot of asphalt with lofty plans for the future. At the other end of the property sits the impressive Columbus Public Library, which opened in 2005.
Cross Country Plaza, meanwhile, holds on to its past and hopes for a future.