The one hundred sixty-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, this building is: “ca. 1922; 1 1/2 stories; William Barnes house; early local bungalow with gable roof and engaged porch; shingled dormer; Barnes was a laborer, chauffeur, and builder.”

The address of this house was 1020 Wainwright Avenue prior to the extension of Hines Street in the early 1970s.

In the 1928 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Barnes Wm (c; Julia) lab h 1018 [sic] Wainwright av [In the householders’ section of the directory, the house number is listed at 1020.]

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Barnes Wm (c; Julia) lab h 1020 Wainwright av

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1020 Wainwright, owned and valued at $900, William Barnes, 46, lumber mill laborer; wife Julia, 42; and children Evelyn, 13, Mary B., 11, and William Jr., 8.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1020 [Wainwright], William Barnes, 58, cotton mill engineer; wife Julia, 55; children Evylene, 25, beautician in beauty parlor, Mary, 19, and William, 17, shoeshine boy in shoe shop; and adopted daughter Nebraska, 11.

In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barnes Wm (c) lab h 1020 S Wainwright Av

On 27 April 1946, Clarence Hoskins, 22, of Wilson, son of Lonnie Hoskins and Gertrude Hines [sic] Hoskins, married Nebraska Barnes, 18, of 1020 Wainwright Avenue, Wilson, daughter of William Barnes and Julia Fields Barnes, in Wilson. Missionary Baptist minister H. Hoskins performed the ceremony in the presence of Azzel F. Hall, Joseph Zeigler Jr., and Agnes M. Hoskins.

In the 1947 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory: Barnes Wm M (c; Julia) mech Sou Oil Co h 1020 S Wainwright Av; also, Barnes Wm M jr (c) student h 1020 Wainwright

Photo by Lisa Y. Henderson, April 2022.