The one hundred ninety-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.
This 2003 aerial photograph shows a neat line of ten shotgun (“endway”) houses in the 1000 block of Robeson Street, differentiated only by the materials of their roofs. By 2007, they were gone.
As described in the nomination form for the East Wilson Historic District, 1000 Robeson Street was: “ca. 1913; 1-story; shotgun with hip-roofed porch and gable returns, diamond-shaped vent in the gable; white speculator and tobacconist J.C. Hadley probably had this shotgun and #1002-1018 erected in the early 1900s.”
The 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map of Wilson shows the original 11 endway houses in the 1000 block of Robeson.
The 1928 city directory shows these residents of the block:
In the 1930 city directory, 1002, 1004, and 1006 Robeson were vacant. 1020 is listed, but was gone by 1940.
Endway houses were built as rental properties, but occasionally a resident was able to purchase one. The 1940 census of Wilson reveals that Ashley Tillery, 29, Bank of Wilson elevator operator, owned 1008 Robeson Street, which was valued at $900. His wife Mary, 28, and children Mary E., 8, Bettie, 6, Geraldine, 4, and Ashley Jr., 1, lived in the house with him. Tobacco factory laborer Willie Gardner, 46, owned 1018, where he lived alone. Rents in 1940 were $8 to 10/month, and several dwellings housed two families, each apparently occupying a bedroom.
The 1000 block of Robeson Street is now part of Freeman Place, a city-developed housing community.
2003 aerial courtesy of Wilson County GIS Website; current aerial courtesy of Google Maps.
