Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle: Mary Logan- 1606 4th St NW

Sooooo Mary Logan bought 1606 4th St NW from Nick and Helen Basiliko, who were relatives of “Slum Lord” George Basiliko in 1944. The Basilikos are all over the Truxton neighborhood and I looked at George and I felt like I was looking a little too close to the abyss. Maybe one day I will address this, but not today Satan.

Mary Logan was a single woman who lived with her sister and a renting family according to the 1950 census. In the prior 1940 census she was renting a unit at 1618 7th St NW with her older sisters, Elizabeth and Cora Logan, nephews Ronnie and Richard, and niece Martha Logan. She worked as a presser at a laundry.

Mary purchased 1606 4th St NW in June 1944 and borrowed $1,923.25 at 6% interest. In 1954 she took out a couple of new loans, $2,200 from the Perpetual Building Association and $750 from trustees, and paid off her initial 1944 loan.

In the 1950, according to the census, Mary was the head of the household. The house had Mary, her sister Cora, her brother Albert, her nephews Richard and James, and nieces Elaine, Maryanne and Martha. In addition to family, crowded into the home were a family of roomers, a single mother Edna Wenley and her three sons and a laborer named Luther Cullins. That’s 13 people.

According to Redfin, 1606 4th St NW has 1,234 square feet. There is a basement unit and a two bedroom unit on the above ground floors. So if the roomers were only in the basement, that’s still 8 people upstairs.

In 1959 the house was foreclosed for failure to pay the Perpetual Building Association loan. In 1950 of the 5 adults, only 3 were employed. Albert, who was a delivery man, married in 1952 and may have moved out. I’m don’t know what happened there.