{"nrhp_refnum":"88000371","name":"East Wilson Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by E. Gold and Academy Sts., Ward Blvd., Woodard Street Ave. and Elvie St., and Railroad and Pender Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wilson","county":"Wilson County","state":"NC","lat":35.71929309200007,"lon":-77.90040589963951,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large, predominantly residential historic district of 65 city blocks east of the Seaboard railroad tracks in Wilson, North Carolina, containing houses, churches and groceries built mostly between about 1890 and 1940 for the city's Black community.","why_significant":"The district preserves a dense collection of worker housing, especially shotgun, saddlebag and square-built houses, alongside the Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and bungalow homes of the Black middle class. Most residents worked in Wilson's tobacco industry. Streets such as East Green and North Pender still reflect the neighborhood's social layers. The significance section is not included in the excerpt, so this rests on the description.","narrative":"East Wilson is a 65-block neighborhood east of the railroad tracks in Wilson, North Carolina, made up mostly of small frame houses on narrow lots. Built between about 1890 and 1940, the houses were home to Black residents, many of whom worked in the city's tobacco industry. Worker housing dominates, with one-room and two-room gable houses, saddlebag duplexes, and above all shotgun houses, which made up nearly a third of the housing stock by 1930. Larger homes of the Black middle class, including ministers, tradesmen, a mailman and physicians, stand along East Green and North Pender streets. These show Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and bungalow styles. Churches, small groceries and stone buildings by mason Nestus Freeman add variety. Developer Samuel Vick planted the pecan trees that still line East Green Street. Of 1277 counted resources, 868 are considered contributing, and many keep their original forms despite changes to porches and siding.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Charles Benton (white architect) and John Barnes (Black brick mason) for the Darden House; Nestus Freeman, local Black stone mason, built stone houses and sheds; Samuel Vick noted as developer","architectural_style":"Queen Anne; Bungalow/Craftsman; shotgun house and other vernacular types; Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Largely intact; many houses have altered porches or siding. Some resources are vacant lots and the form lists vacant/not in use among current functions.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:51.217575-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/79/7228/47722879/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/88000371.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722879","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Wilson_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20708866"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wilson-county/east-wilson-historic-district-88000371/"}