James B. Blount Tourist Home

James B. Blount Tourist Home was listed in the Green Book as “James B. Blount—447 Coles St.” under “Tourist Homes” in Greensboro.¹

James B. Blount Tourist Home changed ownership multiple times during the Green Book era. It was owned by Dr. William and Susie Logan prior to the Green Book era, who lived until 1934 and 1943, respectively. The large home had ten rooms and was two stories. James B. Blount does not appear at this address in directory listings and no association between Blount and the tourist home has been found to date.²

During the time this address was advertised in the Green Book, the householders at 447 Cole Street were James Odair and Sadie Allison (1950) and Edna Motley (1951-1953). Furnished rooms were not offered at this address in local newspapers or in the city directory. The Allisons lived at this address from 1947-1950. James worked for the Southern Railway. Divorcee Edna Motley was the householder at this address from 1951-1953. She was also a maid at the Jefferson Standard Building (also known as the Jefferson-Standard Building).³

Who owned the home at 447 Cole Street is unclear. James B. Blount was a janitor at the Jefferson Standard Building and lived in Greensboro; he may have known Edna Motley and hired her to manage the tourist home. Other potential owners are Matthew N. and G. Donnell Lewis, who purchased a property on Cole Street via auction in 1946. (This may have been the Logans’ property, since Susie died in 1943.) Matthew N. Lewis also deeded a property on Cole Street to the City of Greensboro in 1960, just before the home at 447 Cole Street was destroyed in a public fire demonstration and demolished. The demolition was part of the Cumberland Redevelopment Project.⁴

Essay by Brandie  K. Ragghianti, 2024

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1950 Green Book, 62; Green, 1951 Green Book, 53; Green, 1952 Green Book, 53; Green, 1953 Green Book, 53.
2. “William Logan Dies Of A Heart Attack,” The News and Record (Greensboro, NC), October 25, 1934, p. 16, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Mrs. Susie Logan” (obituary), Greensboro Daily News, February 13, 1943, p. 3, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Hill’s Greensboro City Directory, 1949-1960. 
3. Hill’s Greensboro City Directory, 1947-1953. 
4.  Hill’s Greensboro City Directory, 1947-1953; Matthew N. and G. Donnell Lewis, Lot on Cole Street, 1946, Grantee Index, Greensboro Register of Deeds; “Matters of Record,” The Greensboro Record, August 16, 1960, p. B2, accessed from www.newspapers.com;  “High Heat of Blaze Shown,” Greensboro Daily News, December 20, 1960, pp. B1, B4, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “House for Sale,” The News and Record (Greensboro, NC), November 1, 1946, p. 21, accessed from www.newspapers.com.