The Wheeler and Moseley Dry Goods building proudly anchors one corner of Prosperity’s town square. The historic mercantile was once owned by J.M. Wheeler, H.C. Mosely, and W.A. Mosley.
An article from The Herald and News, dated 1915, describes the store – then called Moseley Bros. – as follows:
Moseley Brothers represent the oldest business firm in the community, one that existed even before there was a town of Prosperity. The old firm of Brown & Moseley, and later Wheeler & Moseley, used to do the banking business for the people of this section before state banks became general. The firm now is composed of Mr. W. A. Moseley. They have a large brick building on one of the corners of the public square, two great stores and a second story full of merchandise. Their stores are divided into one for dry goods and one for groceries and hardware. On the upper floor furniture is kept. In the dry goods department one may find the very latest and most attractive stock off everything that can be had in any large city store, ladies’ and men’s ready to wear goods of the highest class, as well as the cheaper grades for rough use. And an up to date millinery department where all of the fashions are kept up with and the ladies of this section can feel assured that no more stylish or better looking hats, dresses or trimmings can be offered them.
In the grocery department there is everything that the best markets of the world can offer, staple and fancy goods, neatly and attractively displayed, and kept fresh. A large general line of hardware and supplies in that line for home, and farm are offered the public. This firm has always enjoyed a large and gratifying trade through the three counties of Newberry, Lexington and Saluda. They have the confidence of the people and through their courteous treatment of their trade they have continued to build it year after year.
The large mural painted on the exterior wall of the Moseley Building shows a scene from the former Wise Hotel. James Donkle, a Prosperity native, offers this information about the mural’s creation:
This very large mural in Downtown Prosperity depicts the front porch of the old Wise Hotel that once stood further up Main Street. The Wise Hotel was built c. 1850 and used to serve as a resting place for weary travelers venturing along the Columbia, Newberry, and Laurens Railroad. Although the hotel was torn down in the mid-1970s, this mural has allowed the Wise Hotel to continue to welcome travelers from throughout the state, inviting them to spend some time experiencing everything that Prosperity’s charming downtown community has to offer.
The mural was painted in 1983 and is the work of famous South Carolina muralist Ralph H. Waldrop. The commissioning of the mural was made possible thanks to the support of the Prosperity Bicentennial Committee, the Newberry County Consortium for the Arts, the SC Arts Commission, and the Citizens and Friends of Prosperity.
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