2006 Fayetteville Street- Bush-Lucas House

Photograph taken by Heather Slane, National Historic District Submission, December 2017

Dr. Gow and Lucylle Bush were the first two residents at 2006 Fayetteville Street.  They purchased the property in 1939 but likely had it built in 1942. Dr. Bush was a professor of Biology at North Carolina College, which would become North Carolina Central University. He likely taught at North Carolina College from ca. 1940-1945. Dr. Bush would then work as a physician in Durham for a few years before moving to Lakeland, Florida. 

Dr. Bush and Lucylle moved to Lakeland, Florida, in 1952, where Gow was one of the first Black physicians in the area. He opened a private practice on 5th Street in Lakeland. He also worked for 28 years as a physician and surgeon at Lakeland Hospital.

Lucylle was a teacher and school counselor at Rochelle Junior High School. She also taught at Webster School. She was active in the Lakeland community with numerous clubs and organizations, including the Lakeland YMCA board of directors and the Lakeland Chapter of the American Red  Cross. Lucylle was also part of the two-person team that worked the relocation assistance center for those displaced by the building of the Lakeland Auditorium complex. 

Dr. Bush advocated for civil rights in healthcare, arguing that Black residents should have access to the newly built Lakeland Hospital in 1959.  He also advocated for other issues in the Lakeland community as chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee, as well as sitting on other local boards. One of Dr. Bush’s major projects with the Citizens Advisory Committee was a special committee on finding solutions to a communal drug abuse problem. He was also on a special panel for a fact-finder's report to address discriminatory issues affecting the Lakeland African-American community, including public housing, police relations, transportation, and more.

Dr. Bush also fought to ensure better treatment of Black students at Rochelle and Lincoln elementary schools as chairman of the NAACP Educational Committee. Rochelle and Lincoln were originally schools for Black children that continued to face unequal treatment as they continued to be majority Black-populated schools post the Brown v. Board integration ruling. In 1977, the local NAACP chapter accused the Polk County School Board of discrimination against Black students for being “...denied access to the special learning disabilities program.” They also said, “...others were moved into an emotionally disturbed section because of biased examinations and capricious subjective standards of inexperienced teachers.”

The Bush-Coleman Building, a multi-purpose space located in Lakeland, was partially named in honor of Dr. Bush’s legacy.

Other long-term residents included local educators Dr. John H. and Blondola Lucas, as well as their children, Cheryl and John H. Lucas Jr. Dr. Lucas served as principal at numerous schools in Orange and Durham counties, including Orange Street Elementary School, Mary Potter High School, and Hillside High School, which brought him to Durham. Dr. Lucas was principal at Hillside High School from 1962-1985. Dr. Lucas also served on the Board of Education in Durham and was the president of Shaw University for a year (1986-1987). Blondola taught language arts and social studies in Kinston, North Carolina, where she and Dr. Lucas met. She was also the Assistant Principal of Instruction and the Dean of Girls from 1964-1985 at Whitted Junior High/Shepard Middle School. 

Dr. Lucas and Blondola were highly decorated throughout their careers as educators. Blondola was recognized as Durham Mother of the Year (1975), Assistant Principal of the Year, and was a Women of Achievement Silver Medallion Award Nominee in 1986, among other awards and decorations. Dr. Lucas was awarded an honorary Doctorate and Master of Achievement from one of his alma maters, Shaw University, Principal Emeritus at Hillside High School, and many more.

For his dedication to education in Durham, Lucas Middle School, which opened in 2012, was in part named after Dr. Lucas. He shared recognition with Senator Jeanne Hopkins Lucas, the first Black female North Carolina Senator who advocated for education.

John Lucas Jr., the Lucas's son, made local waves for his basketball and tennis career as a high school student at Hillside High. He played basketball and tennis at the University of Maryland. The Houston Rockets drafted Lucas Jr. as the first overall pick in the 1976 NBA draft.

During his professional career, Lucas Jr. began to struggle with substance abuse. His substance abuse led to two NBA suspensions, which eventually motivated him to seek treatment. As of 2017, Lucas Jr. had been sober for 30 years. He also became an advocate for athletes with substance abuse problems, creating the rehabilitative Wellness and Aftercare program in Houston in 1986. The program is available in numerous cities throughout the United States, mostly those that have an NBA or NFL team.

Lucas Jr. worked as an assistant coach with the NBA, ending his tenure with his first team as a player, the Houston Rockets. Lucas Jr.’s sons, John Lucas III and Jai Powell Lucas, both played professional basketball and are also coaches. As of 2025, Lucas III is the current player development coach for the WNBA team, the Las Vegas Aces. Jai is the current head coach of the University of Miami’s basketball team. 

As of 2026, the building is in good, stable condition. 

Sources: 

“Athlete Aftercare,” John Lucas Enterprises, last accessed December 2, 2025, https://johnlucasenterprises.com/athlete-aftercare. 

Carolina Times

 Heather Slane and Cheri Szcodronski, “College Heights Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (Washington, DC: US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2018), Inventory List.

Kimberly C. Moore, “Black History Month: Dr. David Simpson Treated All Patients During the Spanish Flu Epidemic,” lkldnow, last modified February 12, 2024, https://www.lkldnow.com/black-history-month-dr-david-simpson-treated-all-patients-during-the-spanish-flu-epidemic/. 

Marc J. Spears, “Rockets assistant coach John Lucas helps athletes fight alcohol and drug addiction,” Andscape, last modified May 11, 2017, https://andscape.com/features/rockets-assistant-coach-john-lucas/. 

Tampa Tribune

Previous Entries

With a distinctive stone-veneered entrance bay and unique slender windows flanking a picture window to the left (south) of the entrance, this Period Cottage is one of the most unique in the district. The one-and-a-half-story, front-gabled house has a brick veneer, replacement one-over-one windows throughout, and vinyl gable vents and eaves. The house is two bays wide with a picture window on the left side. The front-gabled, entrance bay on the right (north) end of the façade has an asymmetrical front-gabled roofline, stone veneer, and batten door with three lights in a classical surround with fluted pilasters and a broken pediment. An uncovered brick terrace leads to the entrance. The house has paired windows in the front gable and a shed-roofed dormer on the right elevation is covered with vinyl siding. On the left elevation, the asymmetrical gabled roofline extends to shelter a porch supported by stone piers and enclosed with screens. There is an interior brick chimney on the left roof slope and a one-story, shed-roofed wing at the right rear (northwest) with aluminum siding. The earliest known occupants are Gow M. Bush, a professor at North Carolina College (later North Carolina Central University), and his wife, Lucille K. Bush, in 1945. By the early 1960s, the house was owned by John H. Lucas, principal at Hillside High School and his wife, Blondola, a public school teacher and later Assistant Principal at Shepard Junior High School. 

They are the parents of two children.  Their son, John H. Lucas, Jr., later became a professional basketball player and coach.

According to deed records, this property changed ownership several times pror to the Lucas family purchasing it.  On January 1, 1943, Gow M. Bush bought the land  and built the house.  On August 29, 1945 Gow Bush bough a second lot from Ardell Farrington, and another lot from Clemuel D. Grandy on September 27, 1946.

On June 2, 1964, Isham G. Newton and his wife, Eunice sold the home to John Harding Lucas and his wife, Blondola.

Mr. Lucas was principal at Hillside High School in 1962, before retiring in 1985.  He was preident of the North Carolina Association of Educators, 1974-1975.  Mr. and Mrs. Lucase sold their home to Rosemary Alsbrooks Johnson on June 26, 1991.

On April 4, 2005, Stafford C. Berry, Jr. bought the house from Thomas E. Spivey, trustee from James Cedric Johnson, under the last will and testament of Rosemary Alsbrooks Johnson.

The house is vacant currently and being renovated.