I have in my collection, photocopies of photographs taken sometime maybe in the late 1960s, maybe 1970s of Bates St NW. The image above is looking South on 1st St NW from the corner of 1st and the 100 block of Bates St NW.
When I attempt to look at Google Street View, I notice the mail box is gone. The lamp post is further from the corner. And no fancy schmancy brick in the sidewalk.
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 was the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.
Let’s look at the history of 229 Bates St NW:
This was a new one for me. Typically, Evans, Levin and Taube sold half of the property to families. There were problems with this. The few sales I’ve seen of these half properties to other individuals seems to have failed most of the time. The property either winds up in foreclosure or it gets sold to a party that owns the other half. In this, they started off selling the whole property, but then bought back half.
So who were the Hagins who bought 229 Bates St NW and lost it? In the 1950 census they lived at 1746 18th Ave NW as lodgers of George Green. They were both African Americans from Georgia. He was a 21 year old baggage porter working for the railroad, she was 22.
The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company built a number of homes in the Truxton Circle neighborhood in the late 19th and early 202th century. WSIC sold off a number of their rentals, with the idea of selling to African Americans.
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 was the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.
At 139 Bates St NW:
So this address had fit the pattern of properties being sold then those buyers losing their homes to foreclosure and then the property winding up in the hands of a man whom the Washington Post called a slum lord. Because of the way he handled his rentals he was forced/pressured to sell many of his Bates Street properties.
The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company built a number of homes in the Truxton Circle neighborhood in the late 19th and early 20th century. WSIC sold off a number of their rentals.
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 starting in 1951. 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 was the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.
Let’s look at 38 O St NW:
It appears Basiliko was not forced to sell this property to DC RLA and the whole house eventually belonged to the current owners.
There are a lot of WSIC sell off posts in the works and I figure that would get boring so I started digging around in the piles of stuff I have. I don’t think I posted these images from photos I photocopied.
The note I have for this image reads, ” Bates St NW. 100 blk facing East Northside to South.” I think these are from the 200 block. I don’t know what year these are from but I’d say sometime in the 1960s based on the cars parked on the street.
Enjoy.
The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) built a number of homes in the Truxton Circle neighborhood in the late 19th and early 20th century. WSIC sold off a number of their rentals, with the idea of selling to African Americans.
Around 1950, WSIC sold off their inventory to Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. for $3 million dollars. In an Evening Star article regarding the end of WSIC, the new owners expressed their intention to sell the rentals to Black home buyers.
This sounds decent until you get into the details. I noticed there was a pattern. They would sell half (these were 2 flat structures) to two different families. One or both households would lose their half of the house to foreclosure. And or the property (half or whole) would wind up in the hands of a man who the Washington Post called a slum lord, George Basiliko. Sometimes, an owner who avoided foreclosure or selling to Basiliko, would have to sell to the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). Some fortunate souls managed to avoid all of that.
Let’s see what happened with 25 Bates St NW:
I cannot find the deed transferring the property from Basiliko to the DC RLA, but in 1980 the RLA had ownership. Basiliko had to sell a lot of his rentals to the District of Columbia in the late 1970s because of poor management.
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 was the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.
So let’s see the pattern in action for 230 Q St NW:
So the Holmes were the lucky ones.
The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) was a rental entity that built a number of homes in the Truxton Circle neighborhood in the late 19th and early 20th century. Around 1950, they sold off their inventory to Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. for $3 million dollars. In an Evening Star article regarding the end of WSIC, the new owners expressed their intention to sell the rentals to Black home buyers. Some of those sales worked out okay and others, not so much.
There was a pattern I noticed and so let’s look at the what happens from the sale from Evans, Levin and Taube to buyers. Sometimes it ends up in the hands of landlord George Basiliko or the DC Redevelopment Land Agency or freedom.
I wonder if the Harps sold willingly or were forced to sell their home.
The Harps were African American. In the 1950 census Thomas and Julia lived at 2651 Nichols(?) Ave Apt D in DC with their 4 year old daughter Thomasine. He worked in a cafeteria and she worked as a clerk for the Navy department.
The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company built a number of homes in the Truxton Circle neighborhood in the late 19th and early 20th century. WSIC sold off a number of their rentals, with the idea of selling to African Americans. On it’s face the idea seems wonderful, but a deeper look reveals something less than wonderful.
In previous sales on the unit block of Bates Street there was a pattern. Most of the properties were 2 unit rentals, when they were sold, the buyer only got one-half interest or half of the house. So someone would buy 1/2 of the house, borrow money from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman, then in a year or so, lose their ownership in foreclosure.
Let’s see if 30 Bates Street NW fits that pattern:
For a moment I was feeling hopeful. The Dunstons and the Carters managed to avoid foreclosure, pay off their debt and 30 Bates was not sold to George Basiliko. I’m not sure what the deal was with the sale to RLA.
The Nelsons were a Black couple. According to the 1950 census. Barney was a 38 year old labor and his 39 year old wife worked as a domestic for a private family. They both hailed from South Carolina.
Also in the 1950 census Fannie and John Dunston were living at 1736 13th Ave NW as lodgers. They were both African Americans from North Carolina. He was a 26 year old messenger working for the Federal government, she was 25 years old working in a hospital kitchen.
