grocery store

622 East Nash Street.

The two hundred-ninth 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; 1 story; Dickerson Grocery; parapet-roofed grocery with one-bay facade and metal veneer.” The building has been demolished.

The building appears in the 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map with a shed extension that had been demolished long before the photo above was taken in 1987. It was not assigned a street number.

There is no listing for the location in the 1928 or 1930 Hill’s city directories of Wilson.

However, in the 1941 Hill’s city directory of Wilson: Jackson Jos S (c; Annie H) fruits 614 E Nash h 618 E Green

And in the 1947 Hill’s city directory of Wilson: Stevens & Ricks Gro (c; David L Stevens J L Ricks) gros 620 E Nash

The two-story brick Knights of Solomon building is visible at rear.

The last owner of the grocery, Margaret H. Dickerson, died in 2002.

Wilson Daily Times, 21 February 2002.

N.87-12-1030-1033, Dickerson Grocery, 622 E. Nash Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office, Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and Records, Raleigh.

Immunization schedule for colored.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 July 1948.

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  • Jack Vale’s store, Elba Street — in the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 316 Elba, Jack Vail, 50, retail grocery store manager; wife Addie, 45; and son J.C., 22.
  • Best Stewart‘s store
  • Calvary Baptist church
  • Lodge Street store

Cockrell’s Grocery/Mary Chapel Church.

I visited the State Archives in Raleigh for the first time in a couple of years yesterday. The front desk person asked if I’d been before, and I thought back over the past 41 years and smiled — “yeah, about a million times.” 

I’ve been wanting to examine the photographs taken for the Historic Register nomination report for East Wilson, so I headed over to the State Historic Preservation Office while Archives staff pulled my records requests. A handful of photos were appended to the nomination document, and I knew there were more images available, but not hundreds more! A big shout-out to Renee Gledkill-Earley and Chandrea Burch for going out of their way to accommodate my drop-in visit. Next time, I’ll know to request files in advance. 

Most of the copies I made yesterday will be posted as follow-up to the house or business histories I’ve featured since the blog began, but some will warrant brand-new entries. I grew up seeing these buildings, but not paying any particular attention to them, and so many disappeared in the 1990s and early 2000s. 

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I’ve posted about Cockrell’s Grocery at the corner of East Green and Pettigrew several times. The building has housed churches for the past 40+ years, and its exterior is now heavily modified. These photos, however, show it when its original windows and recessed double doors were still exposed.

402 East Green Street.

N.87-12-250-252, 402 E. Green Street, East Wilson Historic District, Wilson, Wilson County, Survey and National Register Branch, State Historic Preservation Office.

Lee’s Food Store.

Wilson Daily Times, 7 December 1944.

Lee’s Food Store occupied the westernmost storefront space in the Terminal Inn, the two-story brick building built in 1920 across from the A.C.L. passenger rail station. Lee’s was one of a series of grocery and general stores in the space, and some readers may remember it is the site of Star Credit (“Charge it, Mr. Star!”) Though Lee’s was not likely the primary grocery for many African-American shoppers, but it surely employed them and was a familiar location. This ad reveals some of the grocery staples (and boys’ toys) available during the late World War II era.

Thanksgiving groceries.

Pender’s Store was a small grocery operating at 129 South Goldsboro Street in the early 1920s. It likely employed an African-American porter or two, but probably had few African-American customers. Nonetheless, its Thanksgiving 1921 ad sheds light on the types of foods that would have appeared on the holiday table of a prosperous East Wilson family of the era.

Wilson Daily Times, 18 November 1921.

Historic Black Business Series, no. 27: William Allen’s grocery.

The 500 block of East Nash Street is justly remembered as the 20th century epicenter of Wilson’s African-American-owned businesses. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Black entrepreneurs and tradespeople also operated across the tracks. As Wilson’s downtown experiences a resurgence, let’s rediscover and celebrate these pioneering men and women.

Check in each Sunday for the latest in the Historic Black Business Series!

William Allen‘s grocery was in a block of South Goldsboro Street packed with black businesses in the very early 20th century. The site will soon lie under a baseball stadium.

Allen is listed in the 1908 and 1912 Wilson city directories as a grocer at 412 South Goldsboro Street.

1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory.

In the 1910 census of Wilson, Wilson County, Ann Allen, 32, was described as a grocery clerk. Though her 33 year-old husband Will Allen’s occupation was farm laborer, he seems likely to have been the grocer above.

Historic Black Business Series, no. 22: Jacob Tucker’s grocery.

The 500 block of East Nash Street is justly remembered as the 20th century epicenter of Wilson’s African-American-owned businesses. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Black entrepreneurs and tradespeople also operated across the tracks. As Wilson’s downtown experiences a resurgence, let’s rediscover and celebrate these pioneering men and women.

Check in each Sunday for the latest in the Historic Black Business Series!

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Jacob Tucker‘s grocery was among the cluster of groceries and cafes on the west side of the 400 block of South Spring [now Douglas] Street. Soon, the footprints of all will lie beneath the baseball stadium that just broke ground in downtown Wilson.

1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory.

Tucker ran into a spot of trouble at his store in the fall of 1912.

Jacob Tucker’s grocery and dwelling as shown in the 1922 Sanborn fire insurance maps of Wilson.

Though its address shifted to 424 South Spring, Jake Tucker operated his grocery store at the same location for nearly 40 years. (424 was also occasionally the address, per city directories, of Neverson Green‘s grocery. The two may have been in the business together for brief periods.)

Tucker’s will, dated 1 September 1942, disposed of both the store and his neighboring house at 422 South Spring. He died in 1946.

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, March 2024; Jake Tucker Will (1942), North Carolina Wills and Estates, 1665-1998 [database on-line], http://www.ancestry.com.

Historic Black Business Series, no. 21: Robert Kearney’s grocery.

The 500 block of East Nash Street is justly remembered as the 20th century epicenter of Wilson’s African-American-owned businesses. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Black entrepreneurs and tradespeople also operated across the tracks. As Wilson’s downtown experiences a resurgence, let’s rediscover and celebrate these pioneering men and women.

Check in each Sunday for the latest in the Historic Black Business Series!

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The 1912, 1916, and 1920 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directories list Robert Kearney as proprietor of a grocery store at 330 South Street. The site, at the corner of South and Lodge, is now a vacant lot.

The 1913 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson shows Kearney’s store in the Little Washington neighborhood near a church we’ve studied before and across Lodge Street from Imperial Tobacco Company. Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church and school stood across South, off this map.

Detail from 1913 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson, N.C.

Historic Black Business Series, no. 18: Neverson Green’s grocery.

The 500 block of East Nash Street is justly remembered as the 20th century epicenter of Wilson’s African-American-owned businesses. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Black entrepreneurs and tradespeople also operated across the tracks. As Wilson’s downtown experiences a resurgence, let’s rediscover and celebrate these pioneering men and women.

Check in each Sunday for the latest in the Historic Black Business Series!

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Neverson Green owned a series of grocery stores in the 400 block of South Spring [now Douglas] Street in the early 20th century. We know he was in business as early as 1906, when he paid $57.50 for a computing scale, but the earliest address for which we have evidence is 410, a location taken over for Agnes Taylor‘s eating house.

On 24 December 1906, Neverson Green agreed to purchase a #10 Computing Scale from The J.H. Parker Co. of Richmond, Virginia, for $57.50 payable in installments. Deed Book 72, page 205.

Neverson Green’s first name was occasionally mistaken as “Nelson.” 1908 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory.

In 1909, Green’s grocery was burgled by the son of a rival grocery storeowner, Jacob Tucker.

City directories appear to show Green’s grocery store sliding up and down South Spring every year, which doesn’t seem probable. In 1912 and 1916, he is at 412 South Spring. In 1920, at 424. (This was also the address of Jacob Tucker’s grocery. The two may have been in the business together for brief periods.) In 1922, he’s at 420, but in 1924, he’s back at 424. In 1925 and 1928, he’s at 400 South Spring.

Detail from 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson.

Remnants of the old Norfolk Southern tracks, seen in the map above, are still visible in the asphalt of Douglas Street. They offer a glimpse of the chaotic landscape of early 20th-century downtown Wilson.

In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: grocery merchant Neverson Green, 58, grocery merchant; wife Isabella, 54; daughters Lula, 21, Bessie, 16, and Eva, 12; and roomer Willie Ward, 19.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: grocery store merchant Nelson Green, 72; wife Isabella, 65; daughters Lula, 30, and Eva, 23; and grandchildren Lila R. Barnes, 12, and Lissa Strickland, 12.

In the 1930 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Green Nelson (c; Isabella) gro 400 Spring h 502 S Lodge