Oasis Spaces Green Book Project: Downtown Raleigh Walking Tour - Clio

Entries on This Tour

Peerless was listed in the Green Book as a Cleaners & Dyers business in the Green Book from 1947-1955. The original structure has been demolished.

2. Richardson & Smith

This site was listed in the Green Book from 1947-1954 as an auto garage. The original structure has been demolished and now is a parking lot.

3. Mrs. Charles Higgs Tourist Home

This site was listed as a tourist home in the Green Book. This site was listed in the Green Book from 1952-1957 and 1959-1960. The tourist home was originally built in the 1930s but was torn down and replaced by another structure (house) in 2014.

4. Lewis Hotel & Lewis Tailor ( Deluxe Hotel )

This site was listed from 1941 and 1947-1955. In the Green Book, this site was originally named the Lewis Hotel/ Lewis (Tailor) and then later listed as the Deluxe Hotel.

5. Mrs. L. B. Yeargan (Yeargin)

This site was listed as a tourist home in the Green Book and was located on 210 E. Cabarrus. It was advertised in the Green Book from the years 1939-1941. The original structure has been demolished and currently the location is a parking lot.

The business, B & H Cafe, was a restaurant listed in the Green Book on 411 S. Blount St. This business was listed in the Green Book from 1947 to 1952.

7. Joe Blackwell/Blacknall

This business was originally listed at 407 ½ S. Blount St from 1934-1936.Then again at a new address 218 E. Cabarrus St. from 1938 to 1939.The Green Book listed this sties as a Dining-Tavern. Both of the original structures have been demolished.

8. Capital Cab Company

The business Capital Cab Company, was listed as a taxi shop that service African Americans in Raleigh . It was located at 133 E. Hargett Street.

9. Moore Square

Moore Square was communal space for African Americans in various part of the 19th and 20th century. In the late 19th and early 20th many African American businesses were forced to move due to discrimination and segregation. Many business would move to East Hargett Street, located on the same street as Moore Square.

This business was listed as a Restaurant located at 125 E. Hargett St.

11. H & H Beauty Parlor

This business was a beauty parlor located in the Arcade buidling and was listed in the Green Book edition in 1955 on 118 E. Hargett St. Raleigh.

12. Arcade Tailor and Arcade Hotel & Dining Room (Eckers Hotel)

This business, The Lightner Arcade Building, housed several different businesses and meeting spaces for organizations in addition to the hotel. They included Grand District No. 10 Household of Ruth, physician offices, beauty parlors, The address 122 E. Hargett St and 120 E. Hargett Street were listed in The Green Book for this location. There was not a “Hotels” section listed for Raleigh in the 1948-1952 Green Book editions. In 1952-1955 the Arcade was listed as under “Hotels” AND “Tailors”. In the 1961-1967 Green Book editions it was listed as “Home Eckers Hotel---122 E. Hargett Street” in Raleigh.

13. New York Restaurant (New York Cafe)

This business was listed as a restaurant in the The Green Book from 1950-1957, and again in 1959-1967.

14. G. & M. Tailor

This business was a Tailor listed in The Green Book from 1954-1955. It was located here at 106 E Hargett St. This building remains standing today.

15. Oasis Spaces Green Book Project: African American Travel in NC

Did you know that over 300 businesses in North Carolina were listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book? In fact, there were 327. “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” published between 1936 and 1966, was both a travel guide and a tool of resistance designed to confront the realities of racial discrimination in the United States and beyond. The book listed over 300 North Carolina businesses—from restaurants and hotels, to tourist homes, nightclubs, and beauty salons—in the three decades that it was published. This tour and the correlating exhibit highlight a complex statewide network of business owners and The Green Book sites that allowed African American communities to thrive, and that created “oasis spaces” for a variety of African American travelers.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Oasis Spaces Green Book Project: Downtown Raleigh Walking Tour

Created by Natalie Rodriguez on May 11th 2021, 12:58:11 am.

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Description

This tour is just a little over 1 hour and 1-mile. The tour consist of 14 of 38 "The Negro Motorist Green Book" sites that were in Raleigh from 1936-1968. The Green Book was a Traveling guide for African Americans to use during the Jim Crow era in the U.S and internationally. North Carolina had over 300 sites listed in the directory's publications. 3 of the 14 sites on this tour are still standing and are commercial spaces downtown. The Green Book sites highlighted on this tour are near or on East Hargett Street which was known as “Black Main Street”. The findings compiled in this tour invites visitors to explore the history of different Green Book sites in downtown Raleigh. Each stopping point should provide brief historical vignettes, stories, and images. The 14 featured Green Book sites range in listing dates from 1936 to 1968. Please be aware that some of these tour sites are private property and, please do not trespass.

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