Adams Tourist Home
Adams Tourist Home was advertised in the Green Book from 1952-1957 and 1959-1967. It was listed as “Mrs. Doris Adams - 526 Chestnut Street” under “Tourist Homes” in 1952; as “Adams Tourist Home, 526 Chestnut Street” from 1953-1954; as “Adams, 526 Chestnut St.” under “Tourist Homes” in 1955, and “Adams Tourist Home – 526 Chestnut St.” from 1956-1957 and 1959-1967.1
Burlington, North Carolina native Mrs. Doris Walker Adams (1906-1983) operated Adams Tourist Home at 526 Chestnut Street. She and her husband, Harold Cicero Adams (1910-1981), lived at this address as early as 1942. Harold was born on the grounds of Henderson Normal Institute, where his parents were teachers, and moved with his family to 523 Chestnut Street as a child. In 1942, Doris was also working as a teacher at Henderson Normal Institute.2
Harold was not employed in 1942 but later became a confectioner. During the time that the tourist home was listed in the Green Book Doris worked as a Kindergarten Director.3
Doris and Harold continued to live at 526 Chestnut Street until their deaths in the early 1980s. Google Maps images indicate that a business named “Adams Daycare” is located at this address today.4
Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022
Notes
1. Victor Green, 1952 Green Book, 54; Victor Green, 1953 Green Book, 54; Green, 1954 Green Book, 53; Victor Green, 1955 Green Book, 53; Victor Green, 1956 Green Book, 46; Green, 1957 Green Book, 46; Green, 1959 Green Book, 51; Green, 1960 Green Book, 73; Green, 1961 Green Book, 68; Green, 1962 Green Book, 74; Green, 1963-1964 Green Book, 58; Green, 1966-1967 Green Book, 58.
2. Miller’s 1942-1943 Henderson, NC City Directory, 102 (alphabetical listing); Harold Cicero Adams, Henderson, Vance County, U.S. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
3. Miller’s 1942-1943 Henderson, NC City Directory, 102 (alphabetical listing); Harold Cicero Adams, Henderson, Vance County, U.S. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Miller’s 1948-1949 Henderson, NC City Directory, 102 (alphabetical listing); Miller’s 1956-1957 Henderson, NC City Directory, 42 (alphabetical listing); “Attends Birthday Party,” The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), April 24, 1954, p. 12, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/.
4. Harold Adams, September 14, 1981, Henderson, Vance County, North Carolina, U.S. Death Indexes, 1908-2004, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Doris Walker Adams (obituary), retrieved from www.ancestry.com; Doris Walker Adams, obituary clipping, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Entry for 526 Chestnut Street, Google Maps.
Did you know?
- From 1953-1954, this entry was listed as “Adams Tourist Home, 526 Chestnut Street” on two lines, all caps, bold, and bigger font under “Tourist Homes” in Henderson.