35.981948, -78.887343
W. Fred Henderson ran at grocery store out of this address for many decades, becoming one of the area's leading businessmen, according to this Carolina Times caption, by offering delivery service for his grocery store. In earlier records the business is listed as a confecction shop, so I imagine they gradually added other items to sell.
Walker Frederick Henderson ran this store with his wife Mary and his sister Roxie. They lived behind the store at 309 Henderson Alley (aka Amber Place), seen in this Sanborn map:
According to Mary's obituary, she and her husband were members of White Rock Baptist Church. They owned the grocery store for more than 4 decades, but moved to a different nearby address in the late 1940s.
With both the grocery store and the home since demolished, there is now a large vacant lot left, which has become an area of contention among residents, an extension if you will of the problems that had already arisen from the pedestrian bridge. Read more about the EPAs project to beautify this lot in the article here.
Comments
Submitted by gary on Wed, 11/21/2012 - 7:51am
Awesome Karen - great find on the Carolina Times picture.
Submitted by Karen on Wed, 11/21/2012 - 2:17pm
Thanks! It was a lucky find! I was scanning old issues where Henderson's name popped up, looking for nothing more than information. Was not expecting to find a photo! Love the detailing on the roof of that building. I bet this place was hopping Sunday afternoons after Coppin AME and Ebeneezer both let out.
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