Category: History

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 217 Bates St NW:

• December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 217 Bates NW to James E. Barnes and Juanita Settlers.
• December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Barnes and Settlers borrowed $2,525 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 217 Bates St NW to Willie M. and Willis R. Roberson.
• December 1950 the Robersons borrowed $2,525 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
• October 1961 (Recorded 8/8/1973) the Robersons sold their half to Evans, Nathan Levin’s survivors and Taube.
• November 1961, Colonial Inv. Co. parties sold half to Sophia and George Basiliko.
• May 1962 the Robersons were released from their mortgage.
• March 1969 Settlers and Barnes were released from their mortgage.

This one is a mixed bag because Basiliko winds up buying out the Barnes estate in 2001.

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 202 Q St NW:

• January 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold the whole of 202 Q NW to Katie L. McCrae, a widow.
• January 1951 Mrs. McCrae borrowed $6,250 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
• August 1961 Mrs. McCrae lost the home to foreclosure and Evans, Taube, and some of Nathan Levin’s survivors regained the property through an auction.
• November 1961 the partners of Colonial Investment Co, Harry A. Badt (who replaced Nathan Levin), Evans, Taube, Levin’s survivors, and their spouses sold 202 Q St NW, as part of a larger property package, to Sophia and George Basiliko.
• July 1970 the Basilikos, as part of a larger property package in doc #1970011877, sold the house to the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA).
• June 1980 the DC RLA transferred/sold 202 Q St and many other Truxton Circle properties to the BSA Limited Partnership, or as I suspect, the Bates Street Associates in document # 8000020294.

I’ll stop at the the BSA because it gets messy after that. So there is a foreclosure and it got sold to slum landlord George Basiliko. Then he, when Basiliko got in trouble for being a bad landlord, sold it to DC RLA who then turned around to hand it off to supreme f-ups BSA. ooh. I must be in a mood.

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 215 Bates St NW:

• December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold the whole of 215 Bates NW to Sina E. Davis and Ernest F. Whitfield.
• December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Davis and Whitfield borrowed $5,050 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
• October 1955 Davis and Whitfield lost the home due to foreclosure. Evans, Levin and Taube regained ownership of the property via an auction.
• March 1959 new Colonial Investment Co. partner Harry A. Badt, Evans, Taube, the Nathan Levin survivors and their spouses, sold the house to Sophia and George Basiliko.
• July 1970 Sophia and George Basiliko, as part of a larger property package (doc #1970011877), sold 215 Bates to the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA).
• August 1979 the DC RLA sold/transferred the property to the Bates Street Associates Inc.

This sort of follows the pattern. It differs in that the whole house was sold as opposed splitting it in halves, as most of these houses were two flat properties. There was the foreclosure, then the sale to the Basilikos, the sale to DC RLA and then the transfer to the Bates Street Associates.

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 206 Q St NW:

• December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold the whole of 206 Q NW to William D. and Annie Queen.
• December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) the Queens borrowed $6,250 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
• December 1956 the Queens sold 1/2 of the property to Evans, new partner Harry A. Badt, and Taube.
• June 1959 Evans, Badt, Taube, their wives, and the survivors of Nathan Levin, as part of a larger property package, sold 1/2 of 206 Q St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
• August 1961, the Queens lost their remaining half to foreclosure. Through an auction Evans, Nathan Levin’s survivors and Taube regained ownership of the property.
• December 1961 Evans, Nathan Levin’s survivors and Taube and their wives sold the foreclosed half to George Basiliko.
• July 1970 George Basiliko sold the whole of 206 Q to the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA) as part of a larger property package in document #1970011877.
• August 1979 DC RLA transferred/sold many Truxton Circle properties, including 206 Q, in a large property package in document #7900028039 to the Bates Street Associates Inc.

So the pattern plays itself out for 206 Q St NW. There is a foreclosure, it gets sold to Basiliko who then sold it to DC who then passed it on to the Bates Street Associates.

So as a side note there are the Queens. I kept seeing “his wife” scratched out, noting that Annie was not William D.’s wife.  She was his mom. In the 1950 census 36 year old AfAm truck driver William Dennis Queen lived with his parents, 73 year old Dennis and 66 year old Annie Agnes Queen(nee Johnson) at an apartment at 61 Rhode Island Av NE.

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 223 Bates St NW:

• January 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 223 Bates St NW to Margaret and Matthews McCants.
• Jan 1951 the McCants 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 223 Bates St NW to Maggie and William H. Otey.
• Jan 1951 the Oteys borrowed $2,525 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
• April 1962 the Oteys were released from their mortgage.
• October 1962 the McCants were released from their mortgage.
• March 1966 the McCants borrowed $5,151.72 from trustees AJ Mascetta and Ralph O. Weed in order to pay Washington Aluminum Co.
• February 1978 the McCants and the Oteys sold 223 Bates St NW to Daniel J. and Suzanne T. Bailey.

This had a good outcome, no foreclosures and owners were able to borrow money from outside lenders.

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 225 Bates St NW:

• January 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 225 Bates St NW to Mary E. and Samuel Page.
• Jan 1951 the Pages borrowed $2,525 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
• May 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 225 Bates St NW to Beatrice G. and James D. Kemp.
• May 1951 the Kemps borrowed $2,525 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
• May 1962 the Pages were released from their mortgage owning their half free and clear.
• March 1964 the Kemps paid off their mortgage.
• September 1966 Beatrice M. Kemp (aka Beatrice G. Kemp) who is the surviving tenant when James Kemp died 8/19/1965, sold her half to Esther C. Dreeben, Louis M. Dreeben, Julius N. Press and Lillian Press.
• October 1966 the Presses transferred/sold their interest in half of the property to their co-owners the Dreebens.
• March 1974 the Dreebens and the Pages sold their halves to George Basiliko, bringing it under one owner.
• March 1979 Sophia and George Basiliko sold the house to H.R.L., Inc.

I’ll stop in 1979. No foreclosures but it does come under the ownership of slum landlord George Basiliko.