H.C. Sparrow Tourist Home
H.C. Sparrow Tourist Home was listed in every edition of the Green Book. It was listed as “H.C. Sparrow, 68 West Street” under “Tourist [Homes]” in New Bern from 1938-1941 and 1947-1955; as “H.C. Sparrow Tourist Home—68 West St.” in New Bern from 1956-1957 and in 1959; and as “H.C. Sparrow Tourist Home—731 West Street” in New Bern from 1960-1967.1
The H.C. Sparrow Tourist Home was located at 68 West Street (later 731 West Street) in New Bern, North Carolina. The home was built in 1925 after Henry Clay (sometimes Clain) Sparrow’s first home was destroyed in the New Bern fire of 1922. The home borrowed elements from the Sears, Roebuck and Company “Hillrose'' model home and is described in the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the New Bern Historic District as: "Two stories; three bays wide, three bays deep; single, triple, one-over-one sash; small central window at second level; hip-roofed porch, brick posts, sun porch at south end; front door with transom, sidelights; brick piers; brick walls with soldier-courses between first, second stories; basket-weave frieze beneath metal-clad hip roof; shed dormer with exposed rafter ends, triangular brackets."2
Henry Clay Sparrow was born in New Bern in 1873. He attended school in New Bern and completed the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Correspondence Course. He learned masonry and plastering from his father, Charles Custus Sparrow. 3
Sparrow made a career as a bricklayer in New Bern, working alongside his father until he retired due to old age. Sparrow grew his father’s business into a full general contracting business, building churches and businesses throughout New Bern. He married Hattie Brown in 1897; the couple had five children.4
Sparrow was a member of St. Peters A.M.E. Zion church and led efforts to fund the church’s rebuilding after the fire of 1922. He was active in local affairs, serving as President of the Commercial Association of New Bern and as Secretary and Treasurer of the Standard Building and Loan Association.5
Henry Clay Sparrow died in 1956. His son, Charles Sparrow, lived at the family home after his death and may have continued operating a tourist home there. The home still stands at 731 West Street in New Bern.6
Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022
Notes
1. Victor Green, 1938 Green Book, 14; Green, 1939 Green Book, 33; Green, 1940 Green Book, 35; Green, 1941 Green Book, 35; Green, 1947 Green Book, 65; Green, 1948 Green Book, 63; 1949 Green Book, 57; Green, 1950 Green Book, 63; Green, 1951 Green Book, 54; Green, 1952 Green Book, 54; Green, 1953 Green Book, 54; Green, 1954 Green Book, 53; Green, 1955 Green Book, 53; Victor Green, 1956 Green Book, 46; Green, 1957 Green Book, 47; Green, 1959 Green Book, 52; Victor Green, 1960 Green Book, 73; Green, 1961 Green Book, 69; Green, 1962 Green Book, 74; Green, 1963-1964 Green Book, 58; Green, 1966-1967 Green Book, 58.
2. “List of Colored People Who Lost Property In Fire That Swept New Bern Found Large,” The New Bernian (New Bern, NC), December 13, 1922, 8, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org; “New Bern Historic District Additional Documentation and Boundary Expansion,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, NC Department of Cultural Resources, July 29, 2003, accessed from https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/CV2307.pdf; Thomas W. Hanchett and M. Ruth Little, The History and Architecture of Long Wharf and Greater Duffyfield: African American Neighborhoods in New Bern, North Carolina (City of New Bern Historic Preservation Commission: New Bern, NC, 1994), 75.
3. A.B. Caldwell, Ed., A History of the American Negro: North Carolina Edition, Vol. IV (Atlanta: A.B. Caldwell Publishing, 1921), 833-834, accessed from Google Books; 1880 United States Federal Census, Township 8, Craven County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Henry Sparrow,” accessed from www.ancestry.com.
4. A.B. Caldwell, Ed., A History of the American Negro: North Carolina Edition, Vol. IV (Atlanta: A.B. Caldwell Publishing, 1921), 833-834, accessed from Google Books; 1900 United States Federal Census, Newbern, Craven County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Henry Sparrow,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1910 United States Federal Census, Ward 5, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Henry C. Sparrows,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1920 United States Federal Census, Ward 4, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Henry C Sparrow,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Henry C. Sparrow and Hettie E. Brown, April 14, 1897, Craven County, North Carolina U.S. Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
5. A.B. Caldwelll, Ed., A History of the American Negro: North Carolina Edition, Vol. IV (Atlanta: A.B. Caldwell Publishing, 1921), 833-834, accessed from Google Books.
6. Henry Clay Sparrow, September 18, 1873, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, U.S. Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Hill’s 1962-1963 New Bern, Craven County, NC City Directory, 113 (street listing); “New Bern Historic District Additional Documentation and Boundary Expansion, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form,” NC Department of Cultural Resources, July 29, 2003, accessed from https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/CV2307.pdf.
Did you know?
- This entry was listed for the state of North Carolina in every digitally available edition of the Green Book from 1938-1967.
