WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 133 Bates Street NW

The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) was a late 19th century charitable capitalism experiment that ended in the 1950s. This blog started looking at the homes that were supposed to be sold to African American home buyers, after decades of mainly renting to white tenants.

Looking at WSIC properties they tend to have a pattern where the properties were sold to a three business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. for $3 million dollars. Those partners sold to African American buyers. There was usually a foreclosure. Then the property wound up in the hands of George Basiliko and or the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). Then there was the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.

photo of property

  • January 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 133 Bates St NW to Mabel Y. and George McDonald.
  • January 1951 the McDonalds borrowed $2,525 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • January 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 133 Bates St NW to L. Roscoe Evans.
  • January 1951 Evans borrowed $2,525 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • January 1952 the McDonalds sold their half back to Evans, Levin and Taube.
  • January 1952 the McDonalds were released from their mortgage.
  • May 1952 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold one-half of the property to Kinch Fennell.
  • May 1952 Fennell borrowed $2,587.90 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • December 1953 Fennell lost his half to foreclosure and the property returned to Evans, Levin, and Taube via an auction.
  • January 1954 Evans, Levin, and Taube sell one-half of the property to John S. and Louise Battle.
  • January 1954 the Battles borrowed $3,087.29 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • April 1954 Roscoe Evans sold his half back to Evans, Levin, and Taube.
  • June 1954 L. Roscoe Evans was released from his mortgage.
  • June 1958 the Battles lost their half to foreclosure and it was returned to Evans, Taube, and new partner Harry A. Badt via an auction.
  • June 1958, as part of a larger property package, Harry Badt & his wife transfer their interest in one half of the property to the survivors of Nathan Levin.
  • March 1959, as part of another large property package, the Colonial Investment team (Evans, Badt, their wives, and Levin’s survivors) sell 133 Bates St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • Sometime between 1972 and 1980 George Basiliko transferred/sold 133 to the DC Redevelopment Land Agency.

Looking at the above timeline and getting out our Bates Area bingo cards we have the property that was divided in half and sold to two different households; there were two foreclosures; the property was sold to the Basilikos and eventually it wound up in the hands of the DC RLA. It hits all the common beats for former WSIC property.