Photographs

Cemeteries and baseball.

I showed you here a baseball diamond in Daniel Hill discovered in a 1940 aerial photograph of Wilson. Within a few hundred yards of the Sallie Barbour School, just below Cemetery Street, here’s another captured the same year. Home plate appears to be at the lower right corner, and a well-worn path cuts across center and left field.

Look just above the diamond. That mottled wedge. Is that a cemetery?

Here’s another look, with an adjacent area also highlighted. Are these what was left of Oakdale Cemetery right before the city moved its graves to Rest Haven in 1941?

A contemporaneous news article refers to “dozens” of graves being moved, which always struck me as a low count for a 12-acre cemetery that had opened in 1896. However, maybe the site was not popular with families, especially once Rountree (1897 and 1906), Masonic (1900), Odd Fellows (1908), and Vick cemeteries (1913) were established. There’s also mention that the city had condemned Oakdale cemetery’s land in order to “build several roads through it.” Had the city sold off the condemned land? Certainly, it quickly filled with housing. I’ll do some sleuthing next time I’m in Wilson.

Wilson_CSP_6B_12, U.S.D.A. Photograph Collection, State Archives of North Carolina. Big thanks to R.L. for pointing out this wedge of land.

607 East Green Street.

The two hundred-fifth 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. 1913; 1 story; Alonzo Phillips house; two-room, central-hall house with hip-roofed porch; Phillips was a house painter.” The house was originally numbered 608 (and may also have been referred to as 610). It has been demolished.

On 5 July 1923, H.A. [Hiram Abiff] Faulk filed a deed for sale of land to Roddrick Taylor and wife Mary J. Taylor, for $10 and valuable consideration, a house and lot on the north side of East Green Street and known as No. 607 (old city No. 608) E. Green, lot measuring 70′ x 120′.  The lot was bordered on either side by the properties of William Hargrave and Walter Hines.

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

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 607 East Green, renting for $20/month, bricklayer Jessie Holden, 35; wife Beatrice, 38, private maid; and stepdaughter Jeroline Wood, 20.

But also in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: renting at $20/month, barber Roderick Taylor, 45, wife Mary J., 39, and children Edna G., 8, Mary J., 4, and Roderick Jr., 1. [In the 1920 census, laborer Robert Taylor, 36, and wife Mary G., 29, were also listed at 610. This was prior to Roderick and Mary J. Taylor’s purchase of the house, and the names are slightly off, but this appears to be them.]

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 607 East Green Street, barber Roderick Taylor, 58; wife Mary J., 50; and children Edna G., 18, a college bookstore clerk, Mary J., 14, and Roderick Jr., 12.

Wilson Daily Times, 5 August 1947.

Roderick Taylor Sr. died 4 August 1947 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 16 March 1882 in Wilson to Henry Taylor and Rachel Barnes and worked as a barber. Informant was Mary J. Taylor, 607 East Green St., City.

Wilson Daily Times, 12 September 1952.

N.87-12-351-353, Alonzo Phillips House, 607 E. Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office.

606 East Green Street.

The two hundred-fourth 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. 1922. 2 stories. Catherine Clark house; gable front house with side hall and intact classical porch posts; Clark was a school teacher.”

The house was numbered 607 prior to 1922 and may have been built as early as about 1900 by Catherine Clark’s mother, Sarah Hill Clark.

On 3 January 1898, for $180, the Vicks sold Sarah Clark a lot on Green Street bordering Jonah Williams and Millie Bryant. The deed was registered 9 January 1899 in Deed Book 50, page 474. Sarah Clark and her husband Rhoden Clark, natives of Scotland Neck, Halifax County, North Carolina, were married at the time, but she bought this lot in her name only. Rhoden Clark died a few years later.

In the 1908 Wilson, N.C., city directory: Clark Sarah, h 607 e Green; also, Clark Catherine, dressmkr h 607 e Green

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Sarah Clark, 45, school teacher; daughters Catherine, 22, Letha, 19, and Bettie, 17; granddaughter Ruth Jenkins, 8; and servant Mary Jenkins, 26.

Wilson, N.C., city directory, 1912.

Wilson, N.C., city directory, 1916.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 607 Green, widow Sarah Clark, 28 [sic], and daughters Lena, 20, Bettie, 17, and Kathryn, 24, a teacher.

Sarah Hill Clark died 27 January 1927 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 64 years old; was born in Scotland Neck, N.C., to James Hill and Evelyn Barnes; lived at 606 East Green; and was buried in Rountrees Cemetery (probably, Vick Cemetery.) Catherine Clark was informant.

Wilson, N.C., city directory, 1930.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 607 Green, owned and valued at $8000, Katherine Clark, 30, teacher, and sister Aleatha Clark, 24, a seamstress. Both women died in the mid-1930s, and the house was converted to upstairs and downstairs apartments.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: undertaker Talmer Hunter, 29, and wife Naomie, 27 a nurse, renting for $24/month; laborer Sidney Tomlinson, 27, wife Luney, 26, and son Alton, 18 months, renting for $8/month; Randolph Hunter, 7; Ethel Baptist, 40; Shorty Baker, 27; and Thomas Pender, 14.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: (downstairs) widow Jane White, 48, laundry checker; son-in-lsw Bruce Sutton, 28; daughter Lucille, 20, and their sons William E., 2, and Bruce Jr., 1; (upstairs) Charlie K. Clark, 60, day work mowing lawns, and son Donald, 7.

N.88.2.466-467, Catherine Clark House, 606 E. Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office.

Lane Street Project: summer maintenance.

Donations allow us to pay to keep the front section of Odd Fellows Cemetery looking good through the summer months, when sunshine and rain send weeds into overdrive.

Friends of Lane Street Project is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. To help us continue our work, please consider making a donation via Zelle at friendsoflsp — thank you!

605 East Green Street.

The two hundred-third 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. 1908; 1 story; William Hargrove house; triple-A house with bracketed, chamfered porch posts and cut-out balustrade; asphalt shingled; Hargrove was a blacksmith.”

Originally numbered 606, the Hargrove house is second only to the Samuel H. and Annie M. Vick house in longevity on the block.

In the 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Hargrove Wm blksmith 206 S Goldsboro h 606 E Green

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 606 Green, blacksmith William Hargrove, 43; wife Louvenia, 40; daughters Bessie, 17, and Willie L., 13; and boarder John Howard, 18.

In the 1912 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Hargrove Wm blksmith h 606 E Green

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 606 East Green, Luvenia Hargrove, 40, widow, and daughter Willie, 20, public school teacher.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 605 East Green, Luvenia Hargrove, 60, widow, and daughter Willie, 29, public school teacher.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 605 East Green, owned and valued at $1000, Louvenia Hargrove, 74, widow; son-in-law McDuffie Smith, 42, shoeshine parlor operator; and daughter Willie, 48, teacher.

In 1942, McDuffie Smith registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 12 July 1899 in Durham, N.C.; lived at 605 East Green; his contact was Luvenia Hargrove, 605 East Green; and he was self-employed.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 605 East Green, shoeshine parlor manager McDuffie Smith, 51; wife Willie H., 53, city grammar school teacher; and mother-in-law Luvenia Hargrove, 80, widow.

Luevenia Hargrove died 22 February 1958 in Wilson at her home at 605 East Green. Per her death certificate, she was born 27 February 1869 in Edgecombe County to Joshua Bulluck and Harriet Hines and was buried in Bulluck cemetery, Edgecombe County. Informant was Mrs. Willie Smith, 605 East Green.

McDuffie Smith of 605 East Green died 17 July 1971. Willie Hargrove Smith died 12 years later. Her nephew, William Hines Macklin, remained at 605 East Green.

Wilson Daily Times, 4 May 1983.

William H. Macklin died 13 March 1991 in Wilson.

On 7 November 1994, the Wilson Daily Times published a list of boarded-up houses that included 605 East Green, described as needing “minor repairs.”

The house was renovated and remains occupied today.

N.87-12-354-359, William Hargrove House, 605 E. Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office.

Lane Street Project: O’Neal Cemetery, Hampton, Georgia.

Though I will always be of Wilson, I have lived in Atlanta nearly all of my adult life. It is very much “home” for me, too, and is a bottomless well of African-American culture and history that often informs the way I process research and work related to Black Wide-Awake and Lane Street Project.

I’ve begun visiting metro Atlanta’s historic African-American burial grounds. How have they weathered exploding population growth, shifting demographics, outmigration, land loss, and other pressures? The ninth in a series — O’Neal African Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery in Hampton, Georgia.

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During all the time I’ve been in Atlanta, I’ve never been to Atlanta Motor Speedway. Getting to O’Neal required that I skirt the racetrack’s hulking oval on an access road that dead-ended into Lower Woolsey Road. Flaggers controlled that intersection, the first glimpse of the massive construction project that has the cemetery in a chokehold. Traffic was being funneled through a single lane that crept past the site of what will be yet another enormous data center in Henry County.

After a half-mile or so, I spotted O’Neal A.M.E. just inside the tree edge. The church was founded during the early Reconstruction years by freedmen, but this building — or its shell, anyway — may date somewhat later. I’m not a student of African-American vernacular building practices, but it appears to be constructed primarily of a cement stucco over an irregular wall built from chunks of quartz and other fieldstone. There is also evidence of bricks used to form lintels over the windows and to outline a faux arch over the front entrance. Without doubt, O’Neal was built with the congregation’s collective labor, using materials ready to hand. The project wraps around O’Neal cemetery on three sides and possibly encroaches on undocumented burials. Honor Thy Roots Cemetery Preservation, Inc., a local 501(c)(3), is spearheading efforts to protect this sacred space.

O’Neal A.M.E. Church, front elevation. A few charred bits of wood found in a rear addition to the main structure suggest a devastating fire. 

Through the front window looking back toward the nave. There are no internal structures remaining.

The interior of the church.

The front portico, sealed with modern cinderblock.

Were the parallel lines visible at the top of this image made by a notched trowel?

A chunk of quartz encased in mortar in an exterior wall.

Across the road: what I came for. I scrambled up a five-foot embankment to gain the forest floor. Ahead of me, the remaining headstones of O’Neal church cemetery leaned and listed. The oldest marked grave dates to 1871; the last to the 1950s.

Most of the headstones I saw were professionally made and impressive. O’Neal clearly was a congregation with prosperous families.

Thomas A. Fortson’s monument.

“Prof. Thomas A. Fortson A.M. Ph.D. Was Born Jan. 1, 1854 And Died May 13, 1901. He Was Charitable.” Georgia native Fortson is listed as a teacher in the 1900 census of Nashville, Tennessee. He taught at Walden University, formerly known as Central Tennessee College, which housed Meharry Medical College.

Rows of head and foot stones.

Ceasar Fortson Mảr. 29, 1830 June 30, 1900 Gone, But Not Forgotten. Fortson appears in the 1900 census of nearby Woolsey district, Spalding County.

William G. Alexander. Aug. 11, 1902 May 17, 1909 A little time on earth he spent. Till God for him His angel sent. (In the background, you can just see the orange safety fencing separating O’Neal cemetery from the data center construction site, which wraps around it on three sides.)

A broken vault cover.

Y’all know I love a vernacular headstone. There’s a cross carved into the top section; then 1925 in the middle; then OLLIE, a pierced heart, BORN OCT. 3 1900, [illegible]. 

An ornamental wire fence outlining a family plot.

Fieldstone markers.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, July 2026.

600 East Green Street, re-re-revisited.

The J.D. and Eleanor Reid house has been in distress for decades, as shown in these photos taken for the East Wilson Historic District nomination process.

N.87-12-269-271, Judge D. Reid House, 600 E. Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office.

W.P.A. to build replacement school in Elm City.

Wilson Daily Times, 6 March 1940.

Elm City’s first black high school was damaged beyond saving in a fire in early 1940. County school authorities quickly made plans to replace the building using Works Progress Administration funds. As to the question of the 334 “schoolless” students, no decision was ever made, and children whose families could not arrange to transfer them elsewhere sat out until the new facility — Frederick Douglass High School — opened in 1941.

A graveside visit.

I finally saw Julia Boyette Bailey‘s grave for myself. 

Getting there required a slog along the edge of Buckhorn reservoir, which has retreated from the wood line under a ferocious and prolonged drought. At water’s edge, I nearly lost my boot when the crust of the soft yellow-gray mud gave way beneath my step. 

The snags of old cypresses now stand fully exposed, and Julia Bailey’s grave is now well above the waterline.

Randy Marshburn and Al Letchworth have placed flowers at the site, cut back the briars growing over it, and stood up the cleaned headstone in a temporary, but solid, repair. Julia Bailey’s footstone is visible at the bottom of this photo. Andrew W. Terrell‘s footstone lies across her grave. His broken headstone was once visible underwater, but has since disappeared. Depressions near Bailey’s grave suggest other burials.

I’ll say it again. This is the grave of “Julia Boyette Bailey, a woman who was born into slavery; grew to adulthood, married, and bore children under its yoke; and lived only four years beyond it. Hers is one of the, if not the, oldest known burials of an African-American person in Wilson County.”

We know that R. Ward Sutton, a Rocky Mount undertaker, was contracted to disinter, remove, and reinter 16-18 graves in the “Bailey-Tarell” cemetery in 1998. We also know that he never did it. Sutton ran adds on four consecutive weeks in April 1998, notifying the public that Julia Bailey, Andrew W. Terrell, and unnamed others would be reburied in Bailey Cemetery. And yet here they are, still on the City of Wilson’s land.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, July 2026.