Dunn's Esso Service Center

Dunn’s Esso Service Center was advertised in the Green Book as “Dunn’s, 502 Bloodworth St.” under ‘Service Stations” in Raleigh in 1955 and as “Dunn’s, 502 E. Bloodworth St.” under “Service Stations” in Raleigh in 1961. The 1961 edition of the Green Book included an advertisement for Dunn’s, which read: “TE 2-9496, Dunn’s Esso Service Center, Expert Car Service, Gas, Oil, Lubrication, 520 [sic] S. Bloodworth Street, Raleigh, North Carolina.” ¹

Dunn’s Esso Service Station was owned by Eugene T. Dunn during the period that it was advertised in the Green Book. Dunn began as an attendant under the service station’s previous owner, Algae Greene. Dunn became a co-owner of the business in 1952 and the name was changed to “Greene and Dunn’s Esso Service Station.” Dunn became the sole owner of the service station in 1953.²

In 1958, Eugene Dunn demolished the original service station at 502 E. Bloodworth Street and built a new, modern Esso Service Station. The new station offered oil changes, greasing, radiator draining, washing, and polishing. Dunn advertised extensively in The Carolinian, including several feature articles.³

Eugene T. Dunn, a veteran of World War II, lived with his wife, Annie Bell, at 320 E. Davie Street. Dunn operated the service station into the 1990s, when it was open as Dunn’s Texaco. The service station was demolished in 2003 and the land sold to a daycare facility in 2019. Eugene T. Dunn passed away in 2012; his wife, Annie Bell Dunn, died in 2013.⁴

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2024

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1955 Green Book, 54; Victor Green, 1961 Green Book, 70.
2. Hill’s 1950 Raleigh City Directory, alphabetical listing; Hill’s 1951 Raleigh City Directory, alphabetical listing and classified listing; Hill’s 1952 Raleigh City Directory, alphabetical listing; Hill’s 1953 Raleigh City Directory. Note: the spelling of “Greene” is  not consistent in historical records.
3. “Transactions,” The News and Observer, July 28, 2003, p. 21, accessed from www.newspapers.com;  “Dunn’s Esso Service Advertisement,” The Carolinian, May 17, 1958, Page 10, North Carolina Newspapers/DigitalNC, http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn80008926/1958-05-17/ed-1/seq-10; (“Dunn’s Esso Service Station,” advertisement, The Carolinian, October 27, 1956, p. 22, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn80008926/1956-10-27/ed-1/seq-22…; “Eugene T. Dunn is Happy When Customers Satisfied,” The Carolinian, October 27, 1956, p. 17, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn80008926/1956-10-27/ed-1/seq-17…; “Dunn’s Esso Servicecenter Ready for Gala Opening, The Carolinian, August 23, 1958, pp. 12-13, 18, https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn80008926/1958-08-23/ed-1/seq-13/print/image_623x817_from_0,0_to_5678,7437/.
4. “Negroes Selected for Army Service,” The News and Observer, October 21, 1942, p. 13, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer-eugene-t-dunn-…; “Better, but . . .,” The News and Observer, November 30, 1992, p. 19, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Eugene T. Dunn” (obituary), The News and Observer, December 27, 2012, p. B5, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Annie Bell Dunn” (obituary), The News and Observer, February 14, 2013, p. B6, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Notice,” The News and Observer, April 19, 2019, p. B8, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Transactions,” The News and Observer, July 28, 2003, p. 21, accessed from www.newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer-502-s-bloodwor…;