Category: History

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 22 O 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 22 O St NW:

  • February, 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 22 O St NW to Flora V. and Richard T. Kidd.
  • February 1951 the Kidds borrowed $3,125 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • March 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 22 O St NW to Bessie O. and Leroy Howard*.
  • March 1951 the Howards borrowed $3,125 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • May 1955 the Howards lost their half to foreclosure and via an auction the ownership returned to Evans, Levin, and Taube.
  • June 1957 the Kidds lost their half to foreclosure. The property returned to Evans, Taube, and new partner Harry Badt via an auction.
  • June 1957 (recorded July 1958) as part of a larger property package, the Badts (Harry A. and wife Jennie) transfer/sell their interest in 22 O St NW to Nathan Levin’s survivors.
  • March 1959 as part of a larger property package, Badt, Evans, Taube, their wives and Levin’s survivors sold 22 O St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • July 1971 the Basilikos, in a large property package, sold (doc 1971013980) 22 O St NW, along with a lot of other houses, to the Housing System Development and Construction Corp.

I’m going to stop at 1971. It is not sold to DC RLA but it was depressingly sold to George Basiliko.

*I noticed the Howards had bought 18 O St NW, next door. And they lost that to foreclosure too in June 1956.

So who were the Howards? They were an African American couple who for the most part lived in Prince George’s County Maryland. So I am not sure if they ever lived in DC during the time of their ownership.

Leroy Howard was born August 27, 1903 in Hertford County, North Carolina. His parents were John and Catherine Howard. He married the daughter of Ed and Annette (nee Gatling) Bonner, Bessie O. Bonner in 1921 in Perquimans, NC, when she was 18 and he was 21.

In the 1930 census the Howards lived in DC. Leroy Howard was listed as a 21 year old laborer renting 1021 50th St quadrant unknown. He lived there with wife, 25 years old, Bessie Howard and their three children Dorothy (7), John E (5), and Colee/ Cora L. (3).

By 1940, the Howards moved to PG County, and lived at 5149 Mash Street, Fairmount Heights, MD, a house they claimed to have owned. A quick look at Fairmount Height’s government website, it appears it was a Black community back then. I once knew where to find historic maps of PG Co. but I don’t feel like hunting them down. My skill set is DC.

The 1950 census had the Howards at 5114 Maple Road in Seat Pleasant, MD. The thing with the 1950 census, ownership status is unknown. Leroy was a self employed laborer. They lived with their three adult children and granddaughter Audrey Washington (1940-2006), daughter of Dorothy May Howard. Dorothy M. Washington also shows up in the 1950 census living in DC as a roomer without her daughter and separated from her husband Norman, living at 1-C 49th St SE.

Granddaughter Audrey Washington. Eastern HS 1957

I can’t find when Leroy died, but Bessie Olivia Howard appeared to have remarried sometime in the 1970s. According to the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, she became Bessie Jenkins in 1975. She was born Oct 8, 1902 and died in 1979.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 137 Bates Street NW- It’s a foursome

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

I see that two couples (four people) bought this house. Instead of doing my usual format, I will tell the story of these Black homeowners differently.

January 26, 1951 George A. and Gladys L. Watson, along with Lizzie M. and Clayton Williams purchased 137 Bates Street NW from Colonial Investment. Like other buyers they used the only lenders allowed in these transactions, trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman. They borrowed $5,050 and paid it off in February 1963. That same year the property was sold/transferred to the Williams. In 1964, the Williams got a new mortgage with Republic Savings and Loan Association, which was paid off in 1981. Clayton died July 25, 1971 and Lizzie died July 13, 1997 and her estate sold the home in 2018 for $805.5K.

I could not find a lot of information about Clayton Williams, but I was able to find things about Lizzie. In the 1950 census she was living at 95 Fenton Place NE with her four children. Clayton was not there. She was listed as the head and working as a servant for a private household.

Negro tenement house. Fenton Place, N.E. near the Capitol building. Washington, D.C

George Albert Watson was born March 15, 1904 in Meriwether, Georgia. He married Gladys Elizabeth Littles in 1941 in Washington, DC. During WWII, he was working for the Zabans Mattress Company. Zabans seems to have been a Richmond company but possibly had a location in DC.

During the 1950 Census, George and Gladys were living at 4409 Falls Terrace SE, Apartment 4 with 7 year old daughter Jeresal F. and 4 year old son George Jr. George worked as a box spring maker and Gladys was a clerk typist for the Federal government. When she was single in 1940, she worked as a secretary’s assistant for the N.Y.A. Project. George died in 1967.

From Gladys’ obit: On Saturday, September 15, 2007 at Doctors Hospital of Lanham, MD. The beloved mother of Jearsel F. Watson and George A. (Lee Audrey) Watson, Jr.. Also survived by four grandchildren, three great grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends.

I could not find an obvious connection between the Williams and the Watsons.

AI, Eloyce Gist and Truxton Circle

So I decided to fool around with AI before it takes my job and brings those Boston Dynamic killer dog robots to kill me.

I was playing with NotebookLM and decided to throw some Eloyce Gist stuff at it. The fake podcast it produced…. is interesting.

After asking several Eloyce Gist questions, I asked it about Truxton Circle. This is what I got:

While the sources provide information about a filmmaker who lived and worked in Truxton Circle, they do not offer a clear definition of “Truxton Circle.” The sources do include some clues about the nature of Truxton Circle, which may help to clarify:
● A historically Black neighborhood in Washington, D.C.: Several sources refer to Truxton Circle as a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. that was historically Black. For example, one source describes Truxton Circle as a “historically Black Truxton Circle neighborhood in Washington, DC.”

Another mentions a series on “Black home owners of Truxton Circle.”

● Home to a beauty school in the 1920s: The sources provide details about the life and work of Eloyce Gist, a Black filmmaker who owned and operated a beauty school in Truxton Circle in the 1920s. Gist purchased the property for her business, the Patrick School of Beauty Culture and Personal Improvements, in 1922.

The sources note that, at the time, Truxton Circle was “just becoming a majority Black neighborhood.”

● Located within the pre-Home Rule boundaries of Shaw: Several sources provide a map of the “Boundaries pre-Home Rule” for Shaw, a neighborhood in Washington, D.C..
These maps list the neighborhood’s boundaries as:
○ Western: 15th Street NW
○ Eastern: North Capitol Street NW
○ Northern: Florida Ave NW
○ Southern: New York Ave NW, between North Cap and New Jersey, M Street NW between 3rd and 13th Streets NW, and N Street between 13th and 15th Streets NW.
Based on these clues, it seems likely that Truxton Circle is:
● A neighborhood, or a smaller section within a neighborhood, located in Washington, D.C..
● Situated within the historical boundaries of the Shaw neighborhood.
● A historically Black community, at least as of the early 20th century.
However, without further information from the sources, it is impossible to say for certain what Truxton Circle is or to offer more specific details about its location, history, or character.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 1521 3rd 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 1521 3rd St NW:

  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 1521 3rd St NW to Agnes C. and George O. Faison.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) the Faisons borrowed $3,750 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 1951) Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 1521 3rd St NW to Widow Wardell White (nee Fletcher).
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 1951) Mrs. White borrowed $3,750 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • February 1963 Mrs. White paid off her mortgage.
  • November 1967, the property was included in a larger package that was sold/transferred to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • November 1967, a few days after the Basiliko package, the Faisons paid off their mortgage.

This is a decent story. No foreclosures but Basiliko shows up for no reason.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 1517 3rd 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 1517 3rd St NW:

  • February 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 1517 3rd NW to Louis W. and Lucille H. Williams.
  • February 1951 the Williams borrowed $3,525 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • February 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 1517 3rd St NW to Mrs. Ethel W. Stanley.
  • Feb 1951 Stanley borrowed $3,525 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • May 1962 Stanley paid off her mortgage.
  • May 1962 Mr. and Mrs. Williams paid off their mortgage.

Another good ending. No foreclosure and mortgages paid off in 11 years.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off-1515 3rd Street NW

It’s been a while but, I’m back with the goal of getting every WSIC house.

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 1515 3rd St NW:

  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 26, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 1515 3rd St NW to Edna B. and William N. Dean.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 26, 1951) Deans borrowed $3,375 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • April 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 1515 3rd St NW to Harvey L. and Sadie B. Christian.
  • April 1951 the Christians borrowed $3,425 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • November 1952 the Christians were thrown to the lions and lost their half of the property to foreclosure. Evans, Levin and Taube regained ownership via an auction.
  • February 1953 Evans, Levin and Taube turned around and sold the foreclosed half to Ederson R. and Tiney Willis.
  • February 1953 the Willis’ borrowed $4,211.05 from Levin and Weightman.
  • February 1962 the Deans paid off their mortgage.
  • September 1967 Tiney Willis and her son Ederson paid off their mortgage.

And that’s the end. Only one foreclosure and the property did not wind up in the hands of a slum lord or the city government.

Eloyce Gist Powerpoint

I am back from the ASALH conference. I have been very spoiled by the DC History conferences of past. DC you are awesome. I love you.

I had to keep constantly cutting down my presentation to get it below 15 minutes. I cut it so much I don’t think I really did the history justice.

Knowing this I attempted to put the longer presentation on YouTube. I need a new computer and I don’t get YT. But here it is.

Comparative White DC Home Owner- Georgetown- George Thomas- 1505 33rd St NW

It’s been a while since I have written up one of these comparative histories.

Although the African American home owners of Truxton Circle are my focus, I am looking at a few other blocks in Washington, DC to compare them to. So I looked at the census for blocks in the city that were in the F1 or red-lined category, but happened to be 90%-100% white. I included Georgetown, and this is the story of one household.

photo of property

George W. Thomas was born in DC on November 15, 1870. His father was a carpenter and also named George W. and in 1880 the family lived in Georgetown. He was one of 10 children. In 1893 he married Elizabeth Schlosser. In 1900 he shows up twice in the census. He’s at 3042 P St NW with his wife and a family of boarders (Enumeration Dist 25 page 8). And he’s at his father’s on S or T St NW (Enumeration Dist 19 page 17) in Georgetown, with his siblings minus his wife.

Prior to the George W. and his wife Elizabeth moving to 1505 33rd St NW, they lived about a block over, renting 3042 P St NW in the 1900-1910 census. In the 1920 census they rented space in Dupont Circle at 2150 P St NW. George had been a carpenter, like his father, but then moved into cement mixing. It appears they had no children.

Looking at the land records the first few documents for the Thomas household are from 1923 and the lot numbers are (0163-0164) where Irene and William Ballenger sold the two lots to Nellie G. Stees. In the next numbered document, on that same day, sold it to Elizabeth and George W. Thomas. In the following document the Thomas borrowed $2000 at 7% from the trustees of the Northwest Savings Bank and $1000 for a 2nd mortgage from trustees R.E.L. Yellott and Raymond Read. A month later the Thomas’ were named in the release of the Ballenger’s 1920 mortgage. December 1923 George & Elizabeth took out a $3000 mortgage with the Home Building Association of the District of Columbia. It appears they used the money to pay off the Northwest Savings Bank.

In 1935 George and Elizabeth sold the home to Joseph A. Jr. and Edith Corinne Gargiulo.

So in the 1940 census they had moved out to the Palisades living at 5517 Carolina Place NW. At that point he was 69 years old and still in the concrete business. According to the social security office he died in 1952.

The difference I see between this White household and the Black households of Truxton Circle is the Northwest Savings Bank. I haven’t seen that bank operating in the TC.

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 19 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.

Okay, let’s get back to some depressing local history.

Why depressing? The WSIC properties tend to have a pattern where the properties were sold by business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. 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). And doing this over and over again, is depressing.

photo of property

Let’s see what happens with 19 Bates St NW:

  • December 1950 (recorded Feb 14, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 19 Bates St NW to Miss Elsie M. Mitchell.
  • December 1950 (recorded Feb 14, 1951) Mitchell borrowed $1,900 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • January 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 19 Bates St NW to Theodora and Thomas Ferguson.
  • Jan 1951 Fergusons borrowed $1,900 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • March 9, 1953 Thomas Ferguson borrowed $965.83 from trustees Roland Brown Jr and Jacob Sandler in order to pay for work done by Consolidated Eng. & Dist. Co. Inc.
  • September 1954 Thomas Ferguson borrowed $575.65 from the Irving Trust Company.
  • April 1958 the Fergusons lost their half of 19 Bates St NW to foreclosure.
  • July 1958, as part of larger property package, new Colonial partner Harry A. Badt transferred their interest in the foreclosed half to the survivors of Nathan Levin.
  • June 1959 the Colonial Investment Co partners and the Levin survivors, in a larger property package, sold their interest in the property to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • January 1962 Mitchell was released from her mortgage, thus owning her half free and clear.
  • December 1969 Elsie Mitchell Traylor and her husband Melvyn H. Traylor sold their half to notorious landlord George Basiliko.
  • November 1981 Sophia and George Basiliko sold 19 Bates St NW, along with two other WSIC properties to the Bates Street Ventures, Gerald Diaz and Edward A. Kassoff.

There was a foreclosure. But on the other hand the other buyer, Elsie Mitchell, was able to pay off her mortgage, thus one success. But she and the Colonial Investment Co wound up selling their halves of the house to George Basiliko. Despite owning it prior to 1970 Basiliko did not sell the property to the DC RLA. I’m not sure if Bates Street Ventures is pretty much the same as Bates Street Associates (BSA) and all that mess.

1920 to 1930- White to Black- 1725 New Jersey Avenue

1700 Block NJ Ave NW, 1930. Brown= AfAm residents; White= No data

In this series of looking at the odd numbered side of the 1700 block of New Jersey Ave NW from 1920 to 1930, I decided to look at the other end of the block. The change from 1920 to 1930 for most of the block was from white renters to black home owners. My post The sell off of the 1700 block of New Jersey Ave NW pretty much explains the why.

photo of property

1920 White Renters

There were two households living at 1725 NJ Ave NW in 1920. The first was Thomas Errington (spelled Ewrington in the 1920 census), a Michigan born laborer and his family. The second, was Ernest L. McDowell, a Printer who worked at the Government Printing Office.

The Errington household consisted of 42 year old Thomas, his 51 year old wife Ida (previously Crutchfield) and their 5 year old adopted daughter, Mary Callahan. In the previous 1910 census, the couple lived at 505 Q St NW. He was a house porter and she worked as a dressmaker. Ida died after they moved from New Jersey Ave in 1921. In the 1930 census, Thomas had a new wife and family with stepdaughter and step-granddaughter in Baltimore. I could not locate Mary.

Ernest Linwood McDowell
Ernest McDowell

The McDowells consisted of 29 year old Ernest Linwood McDowell, his wife 24 year old Eunice (formerly Eunice Ruth Townsend) and 1 year old daughter Dorothy. Ernest was a printer at the GPO and had just married Eunice Ruth Townsend in 1917 in their hometown of Richmond, VA.

After they left New Jersey Ave NW they lived at 2207 Otis St NE and owned the home. By 1930, Ernest moved up to Proofreader at the GPO and he and Eunice had another daughter. They lived on Otis through to the 1950 census. Ernest died in 1963.

1930s Black Owners

According to the land records the owner in 1926 were Alice and George B. Oliver where in a deed they transfer the property to Henning C. Nelms who in the next document transferred it to Alice. A few months later the mortgage with W. Wallace Chiswell and Harry A. Kite was paid off or released. Alice owned the house until her death and the house was sold by her heirs in 1976.

Unfortunately, I could not find out much about the brother and sister George Bruce James Oliver and Alice Oliver prior to their time. They were both Black and born in Virginia. I was able to find George’s draft card to discover he was born in Danville, VA in 1898 and get his two middle names. That lead to finding his 1947 funeral notice where it mentions his wife Ruth, who does not show up in the 1940 census.

Speaking of the census. in 1930 George is listed as Alice’s brother. In 1940 he is listed as a lodger.