Kimbro Store (Anderson Township, Caswell County, NC)

The Kimbro Store in Anderson Township, Caswell County, North Carolina, was owned by Brodie Everette Kimbro (1920-2006). Location: intersection of Highway 62S and Cherry Grove Road. While the store ceased operation many years ago, the building still stands.

In the 1960s when this photograph was taken the store was leased and operated by Herman Hessie Gregory (1914-1979) and Dorothy Grey Rudd Gregory (1920-2000).

Other Renters/Operators:

James Roy Byrd (1924-1994) and Alma Amanda Hines Byrd (1929-2017)

Charlie Alvis Rice (1927-2001) and Gladys Diane Eastwood Rice (1974-1993). A sister of Gladys Diane Eastwood, Emily Bessie Eastwood (1931-2006), married Thomas Osborne Kimbro (1922-2001), brother of Brodie Everette Kimbro.

Photograph courtesy Parks Everette Kimbro, son of Brodie Everette Kimbro.

Note: Spelling of the Kimbro/Kimbrough surname in Caswell County, North Carolina, has caused genealogical research difficulties. So, search for both.

Yanceyville Sanitary District

 

Yanceyville Sanitary District

Earlier we asked when the Yanceyville Sanitary District was created. Yanceyville had a difficult relationship with incorporation: incorporated, incorporation lapsed, reincorporated, unincorporated, incorporated, etc.

However, while not having overall executive authority for the town, from some point the Yanceyville Sanitary District did provide a basic function: water and sewer.

We know the Yanceyville Sanitary District existed as early as 1936 when it requested sealed proposals for "labor, materials and equipment entering into the construction and testing of one or more 10" deep wells for a water supply." At the time W. F. Fitch was Chairman of the Yanceyville Sanitary District. Presumably the water tower shown to the left was part of the early Sanitary District plan. It no longer stands, having been replaced by a new water located farther west.

To fund this project, in 1937 the Yanceyville Sanitary District issued $11,000 in bonds at 4% interest. The bonds were fully subscribed. An election held December 15, 1936, authorized these bonds (137 for, 22 against). The election actually approved $33,000 in bonds. Perhaps the 1937 issue was the first tranche. Sources: The Bee (Danville, Virginia, 31 August 1935, Saturday; The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina), 3 December 1936, Thursday, Page 26; The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), 6 October 1937, Wednesday, Page 18. 

The planning for this water and sewer system began as early as 1935. Was it necessary to incorporate the Yanceyville Sanitary District to have a legal entity to issue bonds? Did the Sanitary District have taxing authority or were the bonds secured by income paid by water/sewage fees?

The well-based system was to have a capacity of 60,000 gallons of water daily to service 156 homes and businesses. It was to contain 1.5 miles of mains, several service lines, and 15 fire hydrants. The sewer system was to have a capacity of 500,000 gallons daily [sounds large] and would empty into Country Line Creek. 

Yanceyville relied upon wells until the early 1950s when a reservoir was established on "Old" Highway 62 south of town.

Watlington House in Yanceyville, North Carolina

 

Watlington House (Yanceyville, NC)

Earlier we discussed what now is known as the Julius Spencer Watlington house on East Main Street in Yanceyville, NC (photograph to right). This was in the context of it possibly being used as a boarding house in the 1940s, which proved not to be the case.

However, the history of the house remains incomplete. It appears at the time of the 1940 United States Federal Census the house to the west (on the corner across from Little Service Station) was owned by widow Vernie Lee Butler Enoch and her daughter Sarah Frances Enoch. The widow's husband Louis Jefferson Enoch died in 1936.

The house on the other (east) side of the Watlington lot was owned and occupied by Herman Lafayette Gunn and his wife Zelda Ruth Roach Gunn (photograph to left).

But what about the property between the Enoch house and the Gunn house. Was there a structure on this lot, or was it vacant? Based upon the sequence of households listed in the 1940 United States Federal Census the following were between the Enoch and Gunn houses:

1. Woodrow O'Rear (or O'Dear) and wife Margaret

2. Luther O. Crotts

Both the O'Rears worked in a "Hosiery Mill." Luther O. Crotts was an "Agriculture Teacher." All were shown as renters. None were native to Caswell County. But, where did they rent? Was there a building of some sort on the lot that eventually was the site of the Watlington house?

Whitehall Apartments (Yanceyville, NC)

Whitehall Apartments in Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina

It appears the following were living in the White/Whitehall Apartments at the time of the 1940 United States Federal Census:

Robert L. Mitchell (wife Julia): fertilizer/farm machinery salesman

Holland McSwain (wife Ollie): superintendent of Caswell County schools

George Holt: textile mill production manager

Robert Wilson (wife Edith Wilkinson): proprietor of hauling and filling station business*

Clarence Rice (wife Isabelle White): foreman at re-drying tobacco plant

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*Robert White Wilson is a first cousin of Sallie Isabell White Rice, wife of Clarence Rice. It is possible that these two cousins owned the apartment building.

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Note the outline of the original house. Remove the front semi-circular entrance part, the rear addition, and the southerly addition (to right in the photograph) and you will see a typical center-entrance, two-story Caswell County wood-frame house. There may have been another chimney on the other (south) side (to right in the photograph).