NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY

The Converse Heights Historic District is a collection of 526 primarily single and multi-family residential properties in the City of Spartanburg. The neighborhood is located due east of the downtown business district and was originally one of Spartanburg’s “streetcar suburbs”. The district includes 461 contributing buildings and 65 non-contributing buildings.
The Converse Heights Historic District is roughly bounded by East Main Street to the north; Pine Street to the west; Woodland, Connecticut and Palmetto Streets to the south and includes properties along portions of Clifton Avenue, Connecticut Avenue, Glendalyn Avenue, Hale Street, Maple Street, Mills Avenue, Norwood Street, Otis Boulevard, Palmetto Street, Plume Street, Poplar Street, Rutledge Street, South Fairview Avenue, and Woodland Street.

This district, which began official development as a separate neighborhood in 1907 and continued to grow through the 1950s, includes single and multi-family residential buildings in the Queen Anne, American Foursquare, Craftsman, Spanish Mission, Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, Neo-Classical and Minimal Traditional styles.

Today, properties within the Converse Heights neighborhood remain primarily single-family residences. There are several duplexes scattered throughout the district. There have been some homes demolished within the district and many homes have had alterations over time, but the overall character of the Converse Heights neighborhood has remained through the preservation of historic landscapes, streetscapes and architectural styles. Changes to area homes has and will continue to occur, but is being done in a sensitive manner that will continue to preserve the overall feel and style of this continually evolving neighborhood.