Day: January 8, 2025

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 56 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 were the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.photo of property

Let’s see what happens with 56 Bates St NW:

  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 56 Bates NW to Adrienne and Emmons K. Devaughn.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) the Devaughns borrowed $1,900 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 56 Bates St NW to Frank and Martha Hunt.
  • December 1950 the Hunts borrowed $1,900 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • January 1954 the Devaughns lost their half to foreclosure and Evans, Levin and Taube regained possession via an auction.
  • May 1954 Evans, Levin and Taube resold the foreclosed half to Ida M. and Reginald F. Thomas.
  • May 1954 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas borrowed $2,811.32 from trustees Levin and Weightman.
  • February 1955 the Thomas family lost their half to foreclosure and Evans, Levin and Taube repossessed it via an auction.
  • November 1961 in a large property package (doc# 1962000416), new partner Harry A. Badt, Evans, Taube, Nathan Levin’s survivors and their spouses sold half of the house to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • April 1973 Martha Hunt, survivor of Frank who died 4/20/1970, sold her half to Patsy M. Lattimore and George F. Thacker.
  • December 1978 George Basiliko Inc sold the other half to Mildred L. Edwards.

This house only fits part of the pattern as it does not fall into the hands of the city of DC nor the Bates Street Associates. However, there are foreclosures and it sold to slum landlord George Basiliko.