The 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory reveals that George Wong operated a small restaurant at 524 East Nash. It was, perhaps, the first Chinese restaurant in East Wilson.

The directory listed Wong’s address as 122 North Tarboro Street, which was also the location of his laundry. He was apparently a new arrival to Wilson as he does not appear in the 1940 census of the town. His laundry was around the corner from the county courthouse and seems to have done well for a time.

Wilson Daily Times, 24 December 1943.

Wilson Daily Times, 5 August 1944.

However, by 1950, Wong was disabled by blindness and forced to close his shop. A few weeks after the notice below ran, National Bank of Wilson advertised the sale and removal of Wong’s building with a proviso that the building be moved and debris cleared within 30 days.

Wilson Daily Times, 3 April 1950.