The period between 1920 and 1950 seems so short, but those are the years where the DC Recorder of Deeds records and the US Census overlap so I can find the Black people who owned their homes. After 1950 it gets a little hard to get in depth info on people. Prior to 1920, I don’t get the same level of accurate information about home owners.
I mapped out which of the homes on Square E. 509 which were at one time owned by an African American resident:
This table has the addresses with links to the blog post about that home owner.
| House # | Street | Head Surname | Head 1st name |
| 1628 | 4th St | Brooks | Lucinda |
| 1616 | 4th St | Darden | Herman |
| 1612 | 4th St | Richardson | Chester |
| 1636 | 4th St | McLean | Daisie Mae |
| 1632 | 4th St | Penny | Louise |
| 1630 | 4th St | Jackson | Edna |
| 1616 | 4th St | Lee | Lula |
| 1612 | 4th St | Richardson | Chester |
| 1606 | 4th St | Logan | Mary |
| 1604 | 4th St | Branham | Clementine |
| 1600 | 4th St | Walker | Johnnie |
| 1602 | 4th St | Evans | Bennie L |
| 1605 | New Jersey Ave | Bellows | Nannie |
| 1607 | New Jersey Ave | Broadus | Wallace |
| 1613 | New Jersey Ave | Harrison | William |
| 1627 | New Jersey Ave | Lomax | Ernest |
| 1629 | New Jersey Ave | Thomas | Carrie H |
| 1605 | New Jersey Ave | Bellows | Nannie |
| 1601 | New Jersey Ave | Broadus | Wallace |
| 1613 | New Jersey Ave | Jones | Rufus |
| 1607 | New Jersey Ave | Broadus | Bessie |
| 1611 | New Jersey Ave | Hollaway | Olinian |
| 1613 | New Jersey Ave | Jones | Lucy E W |
| 1627 | New Jersey Ave | Downing | Virginia |
| 1645 | New Jersey Ave | Dyson | Sidney |
| 1643 | New Jersey Ave | Freeman | Frank |
| 1605 | New Jersey Ave | Bellows | Pauline |
| 408 | R St | Wheeler | James H |
| 410 | R St | Broadus | James R |
| 410 | R St | Broaddus | James R |
| 406 | R St | Strother | Maggie Taylor |
| 402 | R St | Wilson | Virginia |
| 408 | R St | Wheeler | Mayme |
| 408 | R St | Wheeler | James H |
Just clicking on some of them — Rufus Jones got a loan in 1935 for 6% in 1935.
From what I can tell that was about average:\
https://www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/check-out-these-mortgage-rate-charts-from-the-early-1900s/
S&L rates were in that range. Commercial banks and LIC were about a point lower.
More on point would be the length. You can see for S&L it was around 10 years and stayed in that range. Mid 30’s it jumped up for LIC and commercial banks to 15-20 year loans. LTV is unclear.
Happy New year. Interesting posts. Seems like the 1920s, 1960s, and 1990s were big years for demographic change.
Thanks for the link Charlie. I hope I can keep it interesting, but I’m going back to boring after Black History Month.
more WSIC houses after 1950
yay