UPDATE 8/20/2021: I usually keep my eyes on the main owners and everyone else are extras. I want to thank Betsy McDaniel for pointing out that one of those extras, Flaxie Pinkett, was a notable Bloomingdale person. Her Wikipedia page mentions John R. Pinkett Inc., also mentioned in passing below.
From the 1920 census I take the names of African American home owners, and do some very basic research. I have both the husband and wife because she was listed first in the census as the head of household.
Ancestry has a family tree for John Pallard Pinkett, Jr. born in 1862 to John Pollard “Park” Pinkett Jr (say that 10 times fast) and Elizabeth Ann Maria Scott in Virginia. The family lived in Falls Church according to the 1870 & 1880 census. He was enlisted in 1886 in the U.S. Army, and his occupation was that of a barber. He was discharged in 1891. He married Cecelia Beckley in 1887. They had three children, John Randolph, Rosco Dewitt, and Roberta Maude (later Muse?). In 1920 only one (adult) child was living with them, and he was Rosco. I have my doubts about the existence of Roberta as she’s logically would be in the 1920 census if born in 1913. There is a VA birth certificate with her name and John’s name (mother’s name is missing), and her daughter’s death certificate but very few other documents about her.
In 1910 the Pinketts were still in Virginia.
In the 1930 census they are still on N St NW. John P. does not show up in the 1940 census, but his wife was listed as a widow.
In the 1935 city directory, John P. Pinkett, married to Cecelia, is listed as a reverend. Right under it are several lines for John R. Pinkett, married to Flaxie H, living at 122 V St NW, was the president of John R. Pinkett Inc., which I think was a real estate company working out of 1302 New Jersey Ave NW. John R. Pinkett Jr of 122 V St NW, was also a laborer for the Evening Star.
The on-line land records begin around 1921 so the first document for this property is from 1923. It was a release, meaning they paid off a 1914 debt associated with the property, for Cecelia B. and John P. Pinkett with the Washington Loan and Trust Company. And…….. then nothing for 30 years. The land document is a deed from 1953. The Pinkett sons and their wives, sold the property to Boyd B. Middleton. Notably, Roberta’s name is nowhere to be found.