Wilson Daily Times, 23 September 1929.
In the Jim Crow era, even buildings were racialized. Houses were not merely in “negro” neighborhoods; they were somehow, at their essence, “negro houses.” This brief article reports the destruction by fire of three houses on East Nash Road, in the vicinity of present-day B.O. Barnes Elementary School. Though the houses were owned by Ben Eagles, a wealthy white tobacconist, and one was being used as storage, they were “negro dwelling houses.”
Arson for insurance ?
I doubt seriously that they were insured. Fires were common, houses were wooden, and the fire department’s coverage did not extend much beyond downtown.