In 1947 it appears several Wake Forest business people clubbed together and had Wake Forest Press (whatever that was) print up a two-sided card 12″ by 18″ that had a map of the town on one side with crossed circles showing the locations of the 20 fire alarm boxes. On the other side the ads for all the businesses encircled a list of the alarm box sites, a section for how to reach the police and fire departments and the four doctors, the schedule for the Wake Forest College football team’s 1947 schedule. At the top in large print, people were asked to hang the card near their telephone and said they could get additional cards from any advertiser.
On both sides it is chockful of interesting information and mysteries. First, the information. Although there were 20 fire alarm box sites, those current in 1947 began with No. 12 at the corner of White and Spring Streets and went on with wide jumps in numbering, ending with No. 52 at West Sycamore and Dorsett streets although someone had written in “44 W. Chestnut” and put in a scribble that could have been a circle at the corner of West Chestnut and North Main Street. Obviously there had been more alarm boxes at one time or a lot of them had been moved.
The card lists telephone numbers for police – 215-1 – and ambulance – 246-1 – which would have been a funeral home hearse at that time. There are day and night numbers for the fire department – 247-1 and 215-1 – and office and home numbers for the combined practice of Dr. G.C. Mackie and Cr. G.W. Corbin plus the separate numbers for Dr. C.T. Wilkinson (whose wife, Ursula, always referred to him as “The Doctor”) and Dr. R.W. Wilkinson. They built almost identical side-by-side brick houses on South Main Street and shared a driveway and two-car garage.
There are 10 1947 Wake Forest College football games listed, only two of which are in Wake Forest against Georgetown (night game) and Duke. The team traveled to Clemson; to Washington, D.C. for the George Washington game; to Williamsburg for the William and Mary game; to Boston for the Boston College game; to Raleigh for the game against N.C. State; to Winston-Salem for the night game against Duquesne; and to Charlotte for the game against South Carolina.
Lastly, the list of 18 businesses, ads for which encircle the card in equal-sized rectangles. Of those, only Harvey Holding, distributor of Kerosene and Fuel Oil; Wake Forest Florist, Flowers for all occasions, temporary phone 447-1, We Wire Flowers Anywhere; and Shorty’s, Meet me at . . . are still in business.
The other 16 are almost all along South White Street: Keith’s Super Market (whose greatly renovated building is The Forks Cafeteria); Service Chevrolet; Miller Motor Company; Sure-Rest Mattress Company in Youngsville; Jones Hardware; T.E. Holding & Company drug store; S.W. Brewer, “Feeds and Seeds” which might mean its grocery store which provided groceries for several of the student boarding houses was ignored; B. & S. Dept. Store; Morris Grocery in what is now B & W Hardware; Hollowells Food Store which once stood where CVS is now; Lynam & Lee Grade Market in the north end of town; Insurance sold by John M. Brewer; Wilkinson Cleaners (not sure whether it was still in the basement of the Wilkinson Building or had moved to the triangular building along Roosevelt Avenue); Edward’s Pharmacy; and Glover’s Radios – Appliances.
Now on to the mysteries on the reverse side of the card, mysteries which involve street names and streets. (This article follows the street names and designations, sometimes St. if that is on the map or Street if that is what is written.)
Starting at the upper left side of the map, Vernon St. extends across South Wingate Street and becomes Lassiter Drive in dashes rather than lines, indicating it was planned but not built. It curved to the north to intersect with Woodland Drive and then Durham Road with a sharp turn east to cross Wingate and join up with or become what was then labeled Vance St., now West Owen Street.
Vernon St. was connected to Sycamore St, by Dorsett St., now South College Street. Every street in town was called a street where now streets are north and south while east-west streets are called avenues.
Moving a bit north of Durham Road Gore Field is reached by West Ave. Oh, there is an avenue, but of course both are now memories. What is now Stadium Drive was then labeled Falls Road with a short street called Grove Avenue serving Groves Stadium, which had another short street east of it called East Drive. West Juniper Street ran east and west through all of the map.
North Wingate Street and North College Street had dashed-line extensions reaching to Oak St., which became Wall Road as soon as it left the town limits.
In 1947 there were parallel tracks for Seaboard Air Line Railroad through town. There was a short siding to the east and north between Sycamore and Elm streets. Back when the town electricity came from a generator in the original brick Water Light building, a generator fueled at times with shavings from the planing mill next door, that siding served the planing mill. What it did in 1947 is a mystery.
Also, between Sycamore and Waite St. the two parallel tracks become three tracks. And there is a short siding noted between North Street and West Pine St. as well as one on the north side of town which certainly would have served the Royal Cotton Mill.
In the downtown area, Brooks St. is two blocks long with a dashed-line extension to the south. It never crosses Waite or Roosevelt Ave. Instead there is a truncated Baker St. crossing Spring Street.
White Street follows the curve of the railroad, going past Spring Street, the clearly shown W.F. Cemetery and intersecting with East Juniper Street, Briggs Avenue, Lee St., and Perry St. Briggs Avenue? Cedar Avenue now.
Although Allen Road is shown on the map as it is today, other streets have totally changed their names through the years. Lewis Street then became today’s Taylor St., which in 1947 was a block long on the north side of Waite, and though Caddell Street was shown it was not named.
East Pine Avenue today was Thomas Street then, and DuBois Avenue then, linking Briggs Avenue with Nelson Street, is now Franklin Street.
It was easier then when you could go downtown to buy men’s, women’s and children’s clothing – one of the mysteries is why the Bolus Department Store was not an advertiser – but the police department consisted of a chief and one or two officers supplemented by volunteer auxiliary officers, sometimes the only person on duty at night. The fire department was all-volunteer and they would goggle at the equipment the professional fire department has now – and still includes and actively recruits volunteers. No EMS, no hospital nearer than Raleigh. Still segregated schools in the county and Raleigh.
Today is better.
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2 Responses
The Triple RR track extending north of North St/Ave extended over a pit for trucks that hauled coal from hopper cars to the College Heating plant-now minus its chimney. There was/is a hole beside the chimney where the coal was dumped into a hopper that fed into the boiler below.
There was a siding behind the White street buildings serving them-primarily WW Holding Cotton Co.
Interesting article, Carol. You mentioned that there might have been a siding on the north side of town. I have seen a piece of a rail at the intersection of Wall Street and Brewer Avenue. I believe that may be the siding going to the mill. The spur may have gone down the hill on the east side of the company store to the mill.