Atlantic

Atlantic Service Station was listed in the Green Book from 1951-1955 as “Atlantic—216 E. Thomas St.” under “Service Stations” in Rocky Mount.¹ 

The incarnation of Atlantic Service Station advertised in the Green Book first opened at 216 E. Thomas Street in the early 1950s. It was located in an African American commercial district in Rocky Mount known as The Douglas Block. Plummer Alston ran Atlantic Service Station at this address in the 1940s; Alston’s service station was demolished in December 1950. It is unclear whether Alston resumed operation of the service station once it was rebuilt. The service station was rebuilt by 1952 and was operated by L. Randolph Tillery by 1955.²

Leo Randolph “Transmission Man” Tillery operated the service station until at least 1963. He was born in Rocky Mount in 1915. Tillery worked as a gas station attendant at Central Service Station prior to owning his own service station; his wife, Mary, worked at a leaf tobacco company. In 1983, Tillery spoke to the Rocky Mount Telegram in support of establishing a holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.³

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022

Notes

1.  Victor Green, 1951 Green Book, 54; Green, 1952 Green Book, 54; Green, 1953 Green Book, 54.; Green, 1954 Green Book, 54; Green, 1955 Green Book, 54. 
2. Note: Plummer Alston only appears in the Rocky Mount city directory as the owner of Atlantic in 1948 and 1950 and does not appear in the alphabetical listing for the Rocky Mount city directory from 1948-1955. He was enumerated as the proprietor of a service station living on Albemarle Avenue in the 1950 census. Coscolluela, Nicole, Malorey Henderson, and Claire Kempa, “North Carolina Green Books Historic Preservation Study Report: Beaufort, Bertie, Caldwell, Davidson, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Guilford, Iredell, Nash, Pasquotank, Pitt, Rowan, and Wilson Counties,” HI 587: Cultural Resource Management, North Carolina State University, Spring 2016, 17; “Atlantic Service Station” (ad), The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), September 21, 1946, 6, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org; “At Atlantic Service Station” (ad), Rocky Mount Telegram, August 26, 1947, 13, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Hill’s 1950 Rocky Mount City Directory, 107 (street listing); R.D. Armstrong, “News About Negroes,” Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), January 28, 1951, 11, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Hill’s Rocky Mount City Directory, “Plummer, Alston,” 1948, 1950, 1952, 1955, and 1957. Hill’s 1955 Rocky Mount City Directory, 13 (alphabetical listing).
3.  “Leo Randolph ‘Transmission Man’ Tillery” (obit), Rocky Mount Telegram, May 18, 2011, 6, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Leo Randolph Tillery, August 28, 1915, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, US Birth Indexes, 1800-2000, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1920 United States Federal Census, Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Leo Randolph Tillery,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1940 United States Federal Census, Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Leo Randolph Tillery,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Hill’s 1948 Rocky Mount City Directory, 379 (street listing); 1950 United States Federal Census, Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Leo R Tillery,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Kathy Harrelson, “Issues and You: Holiday Debate,” Rocky Mount Telegram, September 18, 1983, 4, accessed from www.newspapers.com. 
4.  Leo R. Tillery, May 17, 2011, Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, US Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Leo Randolph ‘Transmission Man’ Tillery” (obit), Rocky Mount Telegram, May 18, 2011, 6, accessed from www.newspapers.com.