This house is not within the bounds of East Wilson Historic District. However, the blocks of Mercer Street southwest of the Norfolk & Southern Railroad lines have been an African-American residential area since the early twentieth century.

In-fill building in the 1920s and ’30s caused house numbers in this block to shift several times. Now 917 Mercer, it was once 913 1/2, and briefly 915 1/2.

In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c) lndrs h 915 1/2 Mercer

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c) dom h 913 1/2 Mercer

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 913 1/2 Mercer Street, rented at $12/month, Narcissus Moses, 35; Elsie B. Moses, 70, mother; and roomer Darthy Curry, 26, cook.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 917 Mercer Street, Narcissus Moses, 51, hangs tobacco at redrying plant; cousin Effie Read, 38, private cook; and adopted son Jerome Wallace Lassiter, 9.

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c; 1) lndrs h 917 Mercer

In 1942, Narcissus Moses hosted a banquet for the Saint Rose Bible Band at her home at 917 Mercer Street.

Wilson Daily Times, 25 March 1942.

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Moses Narcissus (c) tob wkr h 917 Mercer

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 917 Mercer, Narcissa B. Moses, 62, and cousins Effie B. Read, 46, cook, and Ralph B. Read, 6. 

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, September 2022.