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 were the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.
Let’s see what happens with 212 Q St NW:
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 212 Q St NW to Anna L. and Blanton J. Bell.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) the Bells borrowed $3,125 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- December 1950 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 212 Q St NW to Miss Dorothy M. Bowles.
- December 1950 Ms. Bowled borrowed $3,125 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- March 1961 Ms. Bowles was released from her mortgage and owned her half free and clear.
- May 1962 the Bells were released from their mortgage and owned their half free and clear.
- November 1971 Mr. Bell’s name was removed from the deed.
- June 1980, for some mysterious reason, BSA (Bates Street Associates) Limited Partnership and partners Lawrence J. Brailsford (spelled Brailsforfd) , George (spelled Geroge) Holmes Jr. and Jack W. White took out a 1/2 million dollar mortgage with the John Hanson Savings & Loan using 212 Q St NW and two other properties as collateral.
- April 1984 the DC Board for the Condemnation of Insanitary Buildings mailed a letter to Ms. Bell and Ms. Bowles at 1618 North Capitol St NW to condemn their property.
- November 1984 Mrs. Bowles, a widow and Ms. Bell sold 212 Q to the DC government.
- March 1985 the DC government sold the property to MANNA, Inc.
I will leave it there. So it was a sort of good ending, except for the condemnation.