Housing was especially tight post-World War II. In response, investors built dozens of cinderblock duplexes across East Wilson in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including these:
Wilson Daily Times, 19 December 1950.
This cinderblock duplex at 710-712 New Street may have been one of those Williams Lumber Company built in 1950. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.
The structure in this picture is definitely refurbished; the original cinderblock structures were far from this appealing. Born in 1952 in Wilson, as a teenager, I had friends on New, Singletary , Lincoln, and Cemetery streets and remember very well these , but few, apt. style cinder block houses joined together (“six rooms” were actually 3 rooms in each apt. house- similar to “shot gun houses” just joined together). The good news is that these grey cinder block apt. houses were warm and certainly a step up from the many wooden houses with tin roofs that many of us on that side of town grew up in ; red brick homes were rare.
…but , all by grace, we made it!!!
Yes — I thought the very same thing! Definitely refurbished. I remember the ones on Washington, Atlantic, and Wainwright from my childhood. They were only 15-20 years old at the time, but seemed much older.