This magnificent photo depicts Ernest and Myrtle Clifton Haskins on the Viola Street-side porch of their home at 309 Elba Street on a Sunday morning circa 1965.
Ernest Haskins (1898-1975) was the son of Damp and Hester Haskins. Myrtle Clifton Haskins (1900-1970) was the daughter of James C. and Susan Clifton Clifton.
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The Haskins’ 1920 marriage license.
Many thanks to their grandson Ernie Haskins for sharing this snapshot.
The thirty-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 East Wilson Historic District: “circa 1960; 1 story; concrete block double shotgun.” This description of 807 Viola is obviously incorrect. What happened?
The nomination form lists five houses on the north side of the 800 block of Viola Street: (1) #801, an I-house built about 1913; (2) #803, a house built about 1970; (3) #805, a Queen Anne built about 1913; (4) #807; and (5) another Queen Anne built about 1913.
A current aerial view of the street shows that, nearly 30 years after the neighborhood was surveyed, 801 and 811 are vacant lots. #803 is easily recognized as the modern house described in the nomination form. However, there is no 805 Viola. Rather, the house next to 803 is 807 — the Queen Anne depicted above. The concrete block double shotgun is, in fact, #809.
The 1922 Sanborn fire insurance map, below, sheds some light on the street’s curious numbering. #801, the two-story I-house, is shown at the corner of Viola and Vick. At #803 is the predecessor to the 1970s-era ranch house now there. Hard against the street in #803’s front yard was #805, marked “S” for “store.” #807 is the same house currently at the location.
In the 1916 Wilson city directory: Brown Caroline h 807 Viola.
In the 1920 Wilson city directory: Brown Caroline dom h 807 Viola.
In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 807 Viola, Caroline Brown, 50, and daughter Marjory, 22, both tobacco factory laborers, and grandchildren Lister, 12, and Marie, 1.
In the 1930 Wilson city directory, 807 Viola is described as vacant, and there is no listing for the house in the 1930 census of Wilson.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 807 Viola Street, widowed laundress Blanche Farmer, 67; sons Henry, 34, truck driver for wholesale grocery company, and Samuel, 25, janitor for retail department store; and grandchildren Windsor, 24, tobacco factory laborer, Turner G., 19, cafe cook, and Gloria Hagans, 13, and James H. Farmer, 6.
In the 1941 Hill’s Wilson City Directory: Farmer Blanche (c) h 807 Viola.
Blanch Farmer died 27 March 1959 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 29 July 1889 in Wilson County to Samuel Gay and Alice Bryant; resided at 807 East Viola Street; and was a widow. Goldie Ricks was informant.
Photograph of house by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2017; aerial photo courtesy of Google Maps.
The fifteenth 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 well-preserved house is a: “ca. 1913; 1 story; Queen Anne cottage; double-pile, hip-roofed with projecting front wing; bracketed porch posts.”
In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 911 Viola, paying $10/month rent, farmer George Bullock, 59, wife Ella, 56, sons Buddie, 15, and Author, 13, grandchildren Bulah M., 8, Willie, 6, and Charlie L., 5, and daughter Effie Davis, 23, and her husband Ernest Davis, 28.
In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 911 Viola, laundress Cherry Ellis, 42, and son Paul, 19, a farm laborer. Ellis rented for $10/month and reported that the family had lived in the house in 1935. In the 1941 edition of Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, Cherry Ellis is listed at 911 Viola Street. In 1942, when Wesley Edwin Hines registered for the World War II draft, he listed Cherry Ellis of 911 Viola as his contact person. Per his registration card, Hines lived at 1001 East Vance Street; was born 28 April 1904 in Wilson County; and worked for Hackney Wagon Company on Gold Street in Wilson. Paul Ellis also registered in 1942. Born 1 April 1921, he lived with his mother at 911 Viola and was unemployed.
Photo taken by Lisa Y. Henderson, February 2017.
The eleventh 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. 1930; 2 stories; gable front house; two bay, side-hall plan; bungalow type porch and detail.”
Though the address is listed in the nomination as 633 Viola Street, that seems to be incorrect. In the 1930 Sanborn insurance map of Wilson, the house is numbered 629 Viola. (There is no 633 on the map.) Neither the 1930 nor 1940 censuses show any household numbered 633 (or even 629) Viola. Modern searches attach the address 309 Viola to this house.
In the 1930 Hill’s city directory, veterinarian Elijah L. Reid, his wife Ietta and daughter Odessa are listed at 309 Elba, located on the north side of the intersection of Elba and Viola. In the 1930 census: at 309 Elba, doctor of veterinary surgery Eliria L. Reed, 67; daughter Odessa B. Spicer, 28, a beauty parlor operator; and wife Ietta Reid, 57. The house was valued at $5000.
From 1930 Sanborn insurance map of Wilson, N.C.
After Louisa Kersey Johnson died 15 January 1934, her daughter Gertrude Jones of 309 Elba Street provided information for her death certificate.
In 1940, Frank Jenkins Jr. registered for the World War II draft in Wilson. Per his registration card, he was born 6 August 1905 in Wilson; lived at 309 Elba Street; his contact was wife Bernice Jenkins; and he worked for W.B. Corbitt, Waterworks Road, Wilson.
In the 1945 yearbook of Winston-Salem State Teachers College, senior Charles Branford‘s address is listed as 309 Elba Street.
In the 1950s and ’60s, the house was inhabited by the family of Ernest and Myrtie Clifton Haskins, as shown in this excerpt from the 1959 edition of Hills’ Wilson, N.C., city directory.
Though the house has entrances on both Viola and Elba Streets, the larger porch faces Elba. (See photo below.) With this orientation, the description changes considerably from that in the nomination form, as the house is gable-end, rather than gable-front, and three, rather than two, bays wide.
Photographs taken by Lisa Y. Henderson, February 2017.
Wilson Daily Times, 30 September 1910.
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In the 1900 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: wheelwright Mack Wells, 40; wife Cherry, 38; and children Bertha, 11, Willie, 9, Clifton, 5, Lillie, 4, and Mary, 2.