Campbell's Garage
Campbell’s Garage was located in Sanford. It was listed in the Green Book as “Campbell’s—Pearl St.” under “Garages” from 1947-1950 and as “Campbell’s—Pearl St.” under “Drug Stores” from 1951-1952. The inclusion of this building under the subheading “Drug Stores” was likely a typo.1
Booker T. Campbell was born in Littleton, NC around 1903. He operated Campbell’s Garage in Sanford as early as 1946; an advertisement in The Carolinian that year noted that the garage offered “repairs for fender and body work, batteries, painting, and complete overhaul.” The garage was located on Pearl Street; neither the Green Book nor advertisements for the business indicate a specific street number. The garage may have been run from Campbell’s home at 527 W. Pearl Street, where he lived with his wife, Eula. It is not clear when the business opened and closed as it is not listed separately in city directory records. Campbell also worked at Lee Brick & Tile and as a mechanic at Cole Pontiac.2
Booker T. Campbell and his family later moved to Washington, DC. He died there in 1970.3
Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022
Notes
1. Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 65; Green, 1948 Green Book, 63; Green, 1949 Green Book, 57; Green, 1950 Green Book, 63; Victor Green, 1951 Green Book, 54; Green, 1952 Green Book, 54.
2. “Booker T. Campbell” (obituary), The Progress-Index (Petersburg, VA), February 7, 1970, p. 2, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Advertisement,” The Carolinian, April 27, 1946, p. 7, North Carolina Newspapers/DigitalNC, digitalnc.org, accessed February 28, 2020; “Advertisement,” The Carolinian, March 9, 1946, p. 6, North Carolina Newspapers/DigitalNC, digitalnc.org, accessed February 28, 2020; Hill’s 1950 Sanford (Lee County, N.C.) City Directory, p. 34 (street listing); Hill’s 1950 Sanford (Lee County, N.C.) City Directory, p. 23 (alphabetical listing); Miller’s 1958-59 Sanford City Directory, p 29 (alphabetical listing).
3. “Booker T. Campbell” (obituary), The Progress-Index (Petersburg, VA), February 7, 1970, p. 2, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
Did you know?
- From 1947-1950, this entry was published as “Campbell’s---Pearl St.” under “Garages” in Sanford with no specific street address included in the listing. This same entry was published under the “Drug Stores” heading in 1951 and in 1952. These two editions included a “Garages” category but without any entries suggesting a typo with regards to the entry’s business type in the Green Book.
