DuPre Building
The DuPre Building was built in 1919 and was designed by prominent S.C. architect James B. Urquhart. It served as showroom for DuPre Auto Co., a local distributor of Ford cars and Fordson tractors. The first commercially successful small tractor, the Fordson was produced by Ford Motor Co. from 1917-1928. During the first year of sales, DuPre Auto Co. placed over 700 Fordson tractors on S.C. farms, an important advance in pre-harvest mechanization in the state.
By 1933 DuPre Auto Co. no longer operated from this location. The property housed engravers, equipment suppliers and manufacturers during the Depression. From 1943-1945, the Associated Press service bureau and Columbia Record newspaper occupied the building. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, rehabilitation of the building in 1998 was part of the movement to preserve and redevelop Columbia’s Congaree Vista that began in the 1980s.
Where it stands. 807 Gervais St., Columbia, Columbia