Waxhaw hardware hidden in plain sight

It's interesting how human perception works. Sometimes you can see something time and again and never notice a significant feature until it's pointed out, and then you marvel that you had missed it.

That's how it was for me when Sherry Robinson contacted me and told me about the historic roots of the building that houses The Waxhaw Antique Mart on the corner of South Main Street and Broome Street.

"We are one of about 30 vendors at The Waxhaw Antique Mart in the old hardware store building that has been around since the late 1890's," Robinson wrote. "This building is very historic, as is the whole block, but it still contains the original elevator that was used to carry items to the second story when originally built. We have many interested engineers who stop by to see this one item."

Hardware store?

Elevator?

I've been a regular visitor to the Waxhaw Mart.

In fact, a verbal codicil to our marriage contract was added a couple of years ago when it was stipulated that I would not buy anything else there without mutual accord and prior approval.

I had never noticed anything about a hardware store or an elevator.

I went downtown to check it out. I parked downtown. I was greeted by a gentleman who turned out to be Sherry Robinson's husband, Stacy.

I asked about the elevator, and he led me to the rear of the building. There, behind a partition, was a marvelous contraption complete with a cross member, a platform and a series of cables that disappeared into the ceiling 12 feet above.

No wonder engineers were intrigued.

While I was taking pictures, Stacy said the elevator was part of the 1898 building, and that it led to a store room on the second floor. He said at the turn of the last century, Waxhaw was largely a farming community, and the local farmers spent the winter using their carpentry skills to construct wooden items for sale.

Coffins were a particularly popular and useful item, and the elevator was used to transport them to the second floor where the were stored.

Piano music had been playing in the background and I know when it stopped.

When I rose from taking pictures, I bumped into an antique chair, which in turn dislodged a fair-sized tiffany style stained glass hanging lamp shade.

The woman playing the piano came in response to my faint cry for help. I had the camera in one hand, the chair in the other and the fragile and valuable shade pinned precariously to the wall with my knees.

I learned that I'd been rescued and entertained musically by Kristin , who came in occasionally to play on the piano's offered by one of the Antique Mart's vendors. Kristin returned to the keyboard and once again filled the old hardware store with gentle sounds.

Stacey Robinson pointed to the individual booths that lined the walls, and explained that these were the original fixtures from the hardware store. Now more than 30 vendors are housed there.

He also said most vendors remove the drawers to gain more display space, and then I noticed the empty drawers resting atop the display shelves. He told me about the business concept of the Waxhaw Antique Mart.

Individual vendors rent space from the proprietor of the Mart, Betty Matthews. They pay a small commission on merchandise sold. Some vendors, like the Robinson's take turns manning the store.

Just then, a paying customer arrived so I said goodbye. I looked up over the arched doorway, and there, in faded letters on the century old brick façade was the word "Hardware."