Wilson Daily Times, 23 May 1928.
Mattie Farmer was knocked down and killed as she crossed from one side of the 500 block of Nash Street, where she lived, to the other.
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Mattie Farmer died 23 May 1928 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 28 years old; was married Eli Farmer; lived at 522 East Nash Street; worked as a common laborer; and was born in Laurinburg, N.C., to Henry and Hattie McLaurin. She was buried in Rountree cemetery.
The one hundred twenty-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 encompassed 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, this building is: “909-911 [Nash]; ca. 1930; 1; Cain’s Grocery; district’s largest grocery; brick-veneered structure with parapet front.” The correct address for this building is in fact 915 East Nash Street. 909 and 911 are empty lots.
The 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of the block shows three contiguous wood-framed commercial buildings, two marked as groceries, in the 900 block of Nash Street. The middle building, at 913, appears to be the precursor of the building above.
In the 1928 and 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., directories, 915 East Nash Street is listed as vacant.
As early as July 1936, Gill’s Grocery advertised in the local newspaper:
Wilson Daily Times, 17 July 1936.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Gill’s Grocery (John D Gill) 915-917 E Nash. (On either side, two more groceries, Jesse Verser’s at 913 and Smith’s, owned by Leander and Maggie Smith, at 919-921.)
Gill’s Grocery remained in business at 915 East Nash Street into the 1970s. Cain’s Grocery and other supermarkets succeeded Gill’s into the early 21st century. Most recently, the building has housed a church.
Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, December 2018.
The one-hundred-twenty-sixth 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 encompassed 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.
1922 Sanborn fire insurance map, showing a grocery store at 1000 East Nash
As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District, this building is: “ca. 1922; 1 story; Progressive Primitive Baptist Church; brick-veneered former grocery and bottling plant; parapet front with spire added.”
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Higson Bros (B H and V H) gros 1000 E Nash [The Higsons — owners Booth H. and Velborn H., clerk William B, and his wife Sidney S. — lived at their shop. Like all who operated businesses at 1000 East Nash, the Higsons were white.]
In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Pridgen Babe D (Mattie) gro 1000 E Nash and 513 Stantonsburg h 506 Pender
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Pilot Beverage Co (Roger J Crawley Andrew C Byrd) 1000 E Nash
In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Wilson Bottling Co Moffett L Carson Mgr, Bottlers of Nesbitt’s California Orange 1000 E Nash tel 2408
Ad, 1947 city directory.
In the 1950 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Wilson Bottling Co Moffett L Carson Mgr, Bottlers of Nesbitt’s California Orange 1000 E Nash tel 2408
In its 30 July 1953 edition, the Wilson Daily Times announced the opening of a new grocery business, Super Duper, at 1000 East Nash. Thus, the building returned to its original use.
Wilson Daily Times, 31 May 1956.
In the 1963 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Super Duper Market No 1 (Lerby Bryant Odell C Tant) gros 1000 E Nash
These food stamp credit tokens for Super Duper No. 1 date from the 1970s. For an interesting history of this currency, see this 2015 CoinWeek digital article.
In 1978, the owners of the building advertised it for rent in the Daily Times.
Per mentions in the Wilson Daily Times, from 1982 to 1988 and possibly longer, Goodwill Progressive Primitive Baptist Church operated from 1000 East Nash Street.
Per mentions in the Wilson Daily Times, from 1995 to 1999 and possibly longer, Brotherhood of Deliverance Pentecostal Church operated from 1000 East Nash Street.
The building has been demolished.
1000 East Nash Street now, per Google Street View.
Johnston County native William A. Mitchner practiced medicine in Wilson from about 1908 until his death in 1941. At the end of his career, he practiced from this small brick office at 528 East Nash Street.
Hill’s Wilson, N.C., City Directory (1941).
Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, September 2020.
I’m deeply grateful to Harry B. Harris for allowing me to share the first episode of “Porch Talk,” his series of interviews with the elders of East Wilson. Harris here is talking with Romaine Ellis Blackston, Samuel C. Lathan, and Sterling Corbett on the porch of the East Nash Street house in which 94 year-old Mrs. Blackston has lived all her life. Her recollection of the residents and businesses of East Nash Street is like a walk through the posts of Black Wide-Awake. Enjoy!
In 1918, John Griffin subdivided and sold a large parcel that had formerly belonged to Emma Gay. Griffin contemplated twenty lots with connecting rear alleys. This corner is easily recognized as the eastern gateway to Wilson’s black business block. Plank Road is modern Nash Street, and Stantonsburg Road is now Pender Street. Subsequent development, all commercial, suggests that most the lots were sold in multiples and consolidated.
The approximate location of Emma Gay’s lands.
Plat Book 1, Page 56, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson County Courthouse.
Wilson Daily Times, 23 September 1932.
Maynard’s Market operated in a building at the corner of Pettigrew and Nash Streets. Though white-owned, it served a largely black clientele.
The one 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.
Wilson Daily Times, 12 April 1946.
As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District, 1100 East Nash Street: “ca. 1913; 2 stories; Sallie Barbour house; Queen Anne house with hip-roofed main block and front two-story wing; asphalt veneer; modernized porch; Barbour was noted schoolteacher whose name was given to the former black elementary school (Wilson Colored School) that once stood on Stantonsburg Road.” The house was demolished in the early 1990s.
In the 1922, 1925 and 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Parker Allison (c; Mary) hlpr h1100 E Nash
1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson.
Allison Parker died 27 January 1930. Per his death certificate, he was 75 years old; was born in Halifax County, North Carolina, to Hillard and Dianah Parker; was married to Mary Parker; lived at 1100 East Nash; and worked as a housecleaner. Cause of death: “heart attack probably died suddenly while sitting up in chair. Died before Doctor reached him.”
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1100 East Nash Street, Sallie Barber, 67, widowed public school teacher, and her sister Tiny Hill, 69, also a widowed teacher.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Sallie Barbour, 85, widow, and lodgers Ordelia Nunn, 66, and James Pettiford, 47, barber at Hines barbershop.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barbour Sallie M (c) h1100 E Nash; Barbour Luther (c) barber h 1100 E Nash
Sallie Minnie Barbour died 22 April 1942 at her home at 1100 East Nash Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was 71 years old; was born in Wake County to Essex Blake and Clara Hodge; was a widow; and was a schoolteacher. Ardelia Nunn, 1100 East Nash, was informant.
In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Rogers Rufus (c; Dora) tob wkr Export Tob h1100 E Nash
At Christmas 1948, Rev. and Mrs. S. Rufus Rogers won recognition for the best decorated door among “colored homes”:
Wilson Daily Times, 24 December 1948.
In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1100 East Nash, Rufus Rogers, 54, carpenter helper; wife Dora, 46; and lodgers Curtis Bethal, 35, carpenter helper, James Smillion, 17, dishwasher in cafe, and Howard Smith, 25, service station attendant.
Wilson Daily Times, 14 July 1975.
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As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District, 1208 Woodard Avenue is: “ca. 1917; 1 story; shotgun with gable returns and hip-roofed porch; asphalt veneer.”
In the 1928 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, this house was vacant. In the 1930 directory: Davis John (c; Vinie) h 1208 Woodard Av
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1208 Woodard Avenue, rented for $12/month, sawmill laborer William Davis, 42; wife Vina, 42; and children Margana, 17, Curtis, 14, Viola, 13, Arabella, 8, Castella, 7, James, 5, Laura J., 4, and Augusta, 3.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Nash Sidney (c) tob wkr h1208 Woodard av
In 1942, Alvin Sidney Nash registered for the World War II draft. Per his registration card, he was born 9 August 1900; lived at 1208 Woodard Avenue, Wilson; his contact was Rosa Nash Battle, 913 Washington Street; and he worked for W.T. Clark’s Tobacco Factory, Wilson.
In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Ward Floyd (c; Beatrice) rodmn City h1208 Woodard av
1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson.
Photo courtesy of Google Maps.
The one hundred-sixth 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, this house is: “ca. 1930; 1 1/2 stories; James Joyner House; bungalow with gable roof, brick veneer, engaged porch; Joyner was an auto mechanic who owned a shop next door; builder was Nestus Freeman.”
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: James Joyner, 30, garage mechanic, and wife Annie, 28.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: James Joyner, 40, laborer, and wife Annie, 40, tobacco factory stemmer.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Joyner Jas J (Annie) auto repr 1310 E Nash h [ditto]
In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Joyner Jas J (Lillian) h 1310 E Nash
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As of the date of this posting, this property is listed for sale online by multiple real estate database companies. The listings provide 21 photos of the interior and exterior of the house, including these, which reveal the attention paid to detail and aesthetics in even working-class homes built in this era.
Adjoining rooms with corner fireplaces share the two chimneys. The surround is brick and is topped with a shallow wooden mantel. Also, notice the subtle flare of the trim atop the doorframes.
Bricked-in firebox with former stovepipe attachment point visible. Contrast the fireplace and mantel surround with that above.
Five-panel doors; two-and-a-quarter-inch oak flooring.
Oversized four-over-over windows. Same flared edge on trim at the headers.
Center hall staircase.
In 1891, Samuel H. Vick purchased the lot upon which he built the Orange Hotel from the trustees of Knights of Labor Local 10699, an organization of which he was a member. The Knights of Labor had purchased the lot from William Smith and wife Harriett Smith on 22 December 1887 for $300.
S.H. Vick built a hotel-cum-boarding house at 519 East Nash Street on land he purchased at a discount from the Knights of Labor. The building is shown here on the 1903 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson.
Here is a transcription of Vick’s deed, which is found in Book 30, Pages 92-93, Register of Deeds Office, Wilson:
This deed made by John H. Clark, John Ratley, Gilbert Stallings, William Goffney, George Harris, Wilson Sharpe and Daniel Vick, trustees of Local Assembly Number 10,699, Knights of Labor (the same being successors to James Bynum, Jack Hilliard, Wilson Sharpe, Charles Barnes, Daniel Vick, Wade Barnes, Samuel Williams, Samuel H. Vick and Reddick Strickland, former trustees of said assembly) the parties of the first part to S.H. Vick the Party of the second part all of the County of Wilson and State of North Carolina. Witnesseth that that [sic] the said parties of the first part by the direction of said assembly in meeting assembled and in consideration of the sum of Two hundred and fifty dollars to them in hand paid by the said party of the second part the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged have bargained sold and conveyed and do by these presents bargain sell and convey unto him the said S.H. Vick One certain lot or parcel of land, lying and being Situate in the Town of Wilson State aforesaid on Nash Street adjoining the lands of Peter Rountree R.J. Taylor and others and bounded as follows. Beginning at Peter Rountrees corner on Nash Street thence with said Rountrees line to R.J. Taylors line thence nearly northwest to Henry Jones line thence with said Jones line to Nash Street thence with said Street to the beginning Containing One half acre more or less and for a more particular description of said land reference is made to the deed of Jas. E. Clark administrator to William Smith recorded in Book No 16 Page 373, in the Registers office of Wilson County.
To have, and to hold, said lot or parcel of land unto him the said S.H. Vick his heirs and assigns in fee simple together with all the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging or appertaining to his and their only use & behoof and the said parties of the first part do for themselves their heirs and successors in office warrant to deed with the said S.H. Vick & his heirs that they will forever warrant and defend the title to said land against the lawful claims of and and all persons whomsoever to him the said S.H. Vick & his heirs. Witness our hands & seals this the 9th day of March 1891
[Signed] John Henry Clark, John (X) Ratley, Gilbert (X) Stallings, William (X) Goffney, George (X) Harris, Wilson (X) Sharpe, Daniel (X) Vick. Witness as to all J.D. Bardin
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