The New Briggs Hotel replaced the old Briggs Hotel in the 200 block of East Nash Street in 1873. This O.V. Foust photograph, taken circa 1906, reveals the multiple storefronts on the hotel’s ground floor, which included a succession of barbershops owned in whole or part by Walter S. Hines. The hotel was demolished in 1955 to make way for P.H. Rose’s Department Store. Wilson Arts Center now occupies the site.
Wilson Daily Times, 16 August 1918.
Over its 80+ years of operation, the Briggs undoubtedly employed hundreds of African-Americans as bellmen, porters, cooks, and cleaners. This running list captures only a few.
- Pearce Allen, bellman, 1928
- John Arrington, porter in poolroom, 1916
- John Artis, porter, 1917
- Ed S. Atkinson, cook, 1912
- Allison Atwalter, bellboy, 1918
- Charles Barnes, 1916
- Dave Barnes, porter, 1893
- Pattie Battle, maid, 1912
- George Batts, bellboy, 1917
- Charles Blount, floor boy, 1912
- Charles Bolden, bellboy, 1916
- Charles Branch, bellman, 1912
- Edna Brown, domestic, 1916
- Henry Bryant, laborer, 1917
- Albert R.L. Bullock, cook, 1917
- Ernest Bullock, porter, 1917
- Lizzie Bullock, domestic, 1916
- Overly Bullock, dishwasher, 1916
- Petrola Bullock, domestic, 1916
- John Burke, bellman, 1928
- Rose Carnes, domestic, 1916
- Robert Carroll, cook, 1916
- Jasper A. Coley, bellboy, 1916
- E.D. Evans, 1918
- James Fagan, bellman, 1928
- Albert Gay, bellboy, 1916; chief bellman, 1920
- Annie Graham, maid, 1924
- Frank Griffin, porter, 1916
- Lonnie Hall, bellboy, 1917
- William S. Hines, bell boy, mid-1890s-1898
- Charles C. Johnson, cook, 1916
- Lavinia Pierce Johnson, maid, 1930
- John H. Joyner, porter, 1917
- David McPhail, porter, 1916
- Ethel Mack, domestic, 1916
- Benjamin Mincey Jr., cook, 1930
- Amos Moore, bellman, 1928
- Henry Reaves, bellhop, 1917
- Furness Speight, bellboy, 1916
- Joe Tutle, yardboy, 1917
- Offie Tart, bellboy, 1916
- Paul White, 1928
- Henry C. Wilson, cook, 1917
Foust, O.V., New Briggs Hotel, Wilson, N.C., 1900-1920, Frank M. Wooten Jr. Papers, 0126-b36-fe-i78, East Carolina University Digital Collections.
Just spoke to my Mom when I saw the name of DAVID MCPHAIL. He was my mother’s brother (1900-1936). My mom was born in 1928 ; she remembers being 8 years old when he transitioned. She said he worked in both Briggs Hotel and Cherry Hotel , actually as a shoeshine boy. She mentioned that both hotels were for only white people. She further stated he wore a black pair of pants and a white shirt everyday. He made his own shoeshine box to shine shoes at the hotels; he was paid 15cents a pair; shining shoes was his livelihood. He was in the military for 6 months; his headstone application showed that he is buried in Rountree Cemetery.
As always — thank you for sharing!! I need to interview your mom!
I am just seeing this employment list. I saw my grandfather’s cousin name. Offie Tart, 1916. I think, my great uncle, Henry Tart, worked from that hotel. He was a drayman.
Thank you for all you do.
Linda Sylvia Tart