Photographs

1001 Washington Street.

The two hundred-eighth in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District: “ca. 1930; 2 stories; gable-end apartment house with engaged porch; built by Barney Reid particularly to house teachers.”

However, in 1928, Bessie Wingate Matthews and her children lived in the house:

Wilson, N.C., city directory (1928).

And on 22 July 1930, the Daily Times listed Eddie Wingate as delinquent for 1929 property taxes on the house:

In the 1930 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Matthews Bessie (c) lndrs 1001 Washington

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1001 Washington, widow Bessie Matthews, 38, laundress; daughter Lula McNair, 23, and grandson Alton McNair, 7; daughter Edith Brooks, 18, and grandchildren Lucile, 9, Johnny, 5, and James Brooks, 2; and lodgers James, 26, oil mill laborer, and Harvey Craddle, 32, tobacco factory packer; James Floyd, 19, building painter; Walter Thomas, 32, barber; Essie Brooks, 29, tobacco factory stemmer; and Eddie McNair, 25, tobacco factory packer.

In the 1947 Wilson, N.C., city directory: James Herman (c; Mildred K) lab Hackney Wagon h 1001 Washington

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1001 Washington, downstairs, Herman James, 43, shop foreman at body company; wife Mildred, 41; children Willie, 20, Herman Jr., 19, Delores, 16, Alma, 12, Hilton, 11, Waddell, 10, Clyde, 8, and Mildred, infant; and mother Lucy Knight, 69, widow; and upstairs, Tom Speight, 37, making tobacco barrels, and wife Emma, 26, cook.

In 1968, N.E. Darden applied for permits to make repairs to 1001 Washington and 300 North Vick (Barney Reid’s former home).

Wilson Daily Times, 27 September 1968.

Wilson Daily Times, 21 February 1981.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, August 2026.

621 East Green Street.

The two hundred-seventh in a series of posts highlighting buildings in East Wilson Historic District, a national historic district located in Wilson, North Carolina. As originally approved, the district encompasses 858 contributing buildings and two contributing structures in a historically African-American section of Wilson. (A significant number have since been lost.) The district was developed between about 1890 to 1940 and includes notable examples of Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, and Shotgun-style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

In the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District, described as: “ca. 1913. 1 story. Frederick Davis house; double-pile, hip-roofed cottage with decorative millwork in porch gables; asphalt-sided; Davis was a minister with the Jackson Chapel Baptist Church. [Demolished 2/95.]”

On 1 August 1893, for $100, Samuel and Annie Vick sold F.M. Davis a lot next to Charles Thomas. The deed was registered 28 March 1896 in Deed Book 41, page 433.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Fred M. Davis, 33, paper hanger; wife Diannon, 31; children Eva M., 6, Bertha E., 5, and Fred M., 17 months; plus mother Judith Davis, 50, laundress.

In the 1908 Wilson, N.C., city directory — Davis Frederick M, h 618 e Green

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Fred M. Davis, 42, Baptist church minister; wife Dianah, 42; children Eva M., 16, Bertha, 15, Fred, 11, Ruth, 13, Addie L., 8, and William B., 5; and mother Jud., 60.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Fred M. Davis, 50, church preacher; [second] wife Minnie, 39; children Fred Jr., 20, Berthia, 22, school teacher; Addie, 18, and William B., 16; and mother Judie, 76.

Wilson, N.C., city directory (1928).

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 621 East Green, owned and valued at $11,000, Baptist minister Fred M. Davis, 60; wife Minie, 49; daughter Addie Butterfield, 25, public school teacher; and son-in-law George Butterfield, 27, dentist.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 621 East Green Street, Rev. Fred M. Davis, 73, minister; wife Minnie J., 59; [son-in-law] Dr. G.K. Butterfield, 35, dentist; [daughter] Addie L. Butterfield, 34; son William B. Davis, 32, high school teacher; daughter-in-law Hazel M. Davis, 30, teacher; grandson William B. Davis, 4 months; and son Fred M. Davis, 40, home interior decorator.

Wilson Daily Times, 10 February 1942.

Fred M. Davis Jr. died 7 February 1949 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate he was born 15 October 1900 in Wilson to Fred M. Davis Sr. and Diana Dunston; was single; lived at 621 East Green Street; worked as an interior decorator/wallpaper hanger; was a veteran; and was buried in Rest haven Cemetery.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Fred M. Davis, 82; wife Minnie J., 69; son W.N.B., 40 “school teacher, principal city high school”; wife Hazel M., 35 “school teacher (junior hi), county school”; and grandchildren W.M.B., Jr, 10, Dianna M., 8, and Gloria J., 4.

N.87-12-338-341, Reverend Frederick Davis House, 621 East Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office.

Nina Hardy Faison, as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated.

——

Nina Frances Faison Kornegay Hardy (1882-1969), cook and nursemaid.

 

Update on Park-Mercer Wetland.

Two years in, the Park-Mercer Wetland Project has reshaped a scarred floodplain to clean waterflow moving downstream from downtown Wilson. North Carolina State University’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering designed the project, which pumps water out of a tributary of Hominy Swamp and allows gravity to move it through a channel with five deep ponds.

Pond at the corner of Banks and Mercer Streets. As I approached, a muffled plink revealed a frog diving underwater.

When this project began, large signboards onsite educated the community about the wetland’s function and purpose. I hope permanent replacements are in the works.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, September 2026.

310 North Reid Street, revisited.

310 North Reid Street has seen decline since I photographed it in 2019. 

On a recent visit to the block, I paid closer attention to the squat pillars flanking the front walk. The stone masonry features prominently raised beaded mortar pointing.

And then I noticed this concrete bench with tiny tile insets.

Was this Nestus Freeman‘s work?

Bricks.

A moment to appreciate the bricks cladding Jackson Chapel First Missionary Baptist Church’s handsome Romanesque sanctuary, erected in 1913. By that time, brickmaking in eastern North Carolina had largely transitioned from hand molding to wire-cut extrusion machines that used tight wires to slice clay pushed through a die. This process yielded bricks with a more uniform shape than earlier products, but still with rustic, textured surfaces. Bricks ranging in tone from a bright orangey-red to oxblood were used to construct the storefronts, warehouses, and churches still found in Wilson’s historic districts.

We don’t know who the contractor who built Jackson Chapel was, but it’s reasonable to assume it was one of the many highly skilled black brickmasons in the community, such as John Mack Barnes, who built nearby Saint John A.M.E. Zion. Several of Jackson Chapel’s bricks show penciled calculations that could be graffiti, but are more likely quick calculations scratched out by bricklayers working out course heights, spacing, and material quantities. If so, these figures offer a rare glimpse of the craftsmen behind the work. 

By the way, contrast the smooth, uniformly bland face of the brick used for the church’s 2001 addition. 

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, August 2026.

Possible Oakdale removals to Rest Haven, no. 1.

I was talking with someone recently about Oakdale Cemetery, Wilson’s first black public cemetery. The city moved its graves to Rest Haven Cemetery in 1941, but no records survive that identify who was disinterred/reinterred or where they were placed. 

Walk the rows though, and Rest Haven yields up some of its secrets. Row E, Section 1, holds this cluster of seven gravestones that bear dates before Rest Haven was established in 1933. Though some may have been moved from Rountree or Odd Fellows, it’s likely that most were originally Oakdale burials.

  • Tommie Johnson, died 1902.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: mail carrier Thomas Johnson, 53; wife Alice, 40, laundry woman; sons Rufus, 18, “employee A.T. Co.,” Thomas Jr., 1, and William, 30, cook; and daughter Daisy, 22, cook; plus lodger Katie Black, 19, cook. 

  • Dewey L. Barnes, died 1912.

In the 1900 census of Wilson, Wilson County: fireman Mack Barnes, 31; wife Emma, 25, washwoman; and children Etheldred, 9, Mathew, 4, and Dewey, 1; plus lodger Charles McGuire, 20. 

  • Milby Hadley, died 1905.

Photographs by Lisa Y. Henderson, September 2026.

Henry Barnes, as imagined.

I am ambivalent about using artificial intelligence to restore photographs. Or, more specifically, I’m concerned about manipulated photographs supplanting original images and further blurring the line between reality and misinformation. However, the allure of AI-enhanced images is strong, as I often contend with blurry, poorly lit photographs in unnatural sepia or black-and-white tones. Photographs whose condition sometimes exacerbates the distance between us and our ancestors.

I have been experimenting with ChatGPT lately, feeding it queries and images to be restored and colorized. The results are somewhat haphazard, with many images weird and off-putting. Other times, the images are breathtakingly sharp and … alive. Black Wide-Awake exists to resurrect forgotten lives, and I believe these images are valuable to help us connect with the men and women we read about in these posts. From time to time, I’ll share the better ones here, clearly marked as AI-generated.

——

Henry Barnes (1884-1947), farmer.

Lane Street Project: prepping for Season 7.

Lane Street Project’s Season 7 is right around the corner, and we’re super excited about our plans for the next six to nine months. With the establishment of 501(c)(3) organization Friends of Lane Street Project to oversee fundraising and projects, we look forward to increased sustainability of our work. If you’ve driven past Odd Fellows Cemetery this summer, you will have noticed that we’ve been able to secure regular mowing of the front section and cleared the fence of tattered signage. (It’ll be updated and replaced!)

We recently posted a weather-resistant folder with information for volunteers working our cleanups, as well as signs affirming the liability waivers that all volunteers sign.

The Season 7 schedule will be released in October, and we’ll be reaching out schools, churches, and other organizations with information about ways to support the ongoing reclamation of this historic cemetery. Stay tuned for more information and, in the meantime, feel free to Zelle us a donation — friendsoflsp. Thank you!