1937 Bostian Alley

through the lens of Alex Smoot and Margaret Boylan Smoot

The 1937 Bostian Alley photographs by Alex Smoot and Margaret Boylan Smoot offer historic insight into Rowan County’s past.  The photographs selected for the exhibition reflect the people and the way of life of Bostian Alley, a section of downtown Salisbury, which was located on corner of North Main and North Church streets, and West Franklin and West Cemetery streets.  It was razed in the late 1940s.  A poor area at the best of times, Bostian Alley was immortalized in these photographs taken during the depths of the Great Depression. The overall tone of the images is not the somber one that many great photographs of that era tend to convey.  Instead, children are laughing and dancing, young men and women are captured with an air of pride and enthusiasm, and the elderly citizens of the Alley look on with caring and contentment.

Hear the words of Betty Lou Smith, who grew up in Bostian Alley, come alive in an awe-inspiring immersive experience. It is apparent that Bostian Alley was a vibrant and dynamic place in spite of the challenges faced by those who called it home.  Viewers of this exhibition will truly get a sense of the community and feel that they were there on those days as the shadows grew longer and the light grew dimmer…

Alex Smoot was a pathologist born in Salisbury who spent most of his years in Greensboro.  He and Margaret Boylan met in college and later married (4 July 1949). They were avid photographers and won many photography competitions. Their work is collected widely throughout the region, and has been exhibited in many prestigious venues.  Margaret Boylan Smoot died in 1987; Alex Smoot died in 2000.

The 1937 Bostian Alley photographs are a part of the Waterworks Visual Arts Center Education Collection.

Do you have information about Bostian Alley?

If so, we would love to hear from you!

Contact: Anne Scott Clement at director@waterworks.org