Lincoln Park Motel

Lincoln Park Restaurant & Motel was listed in the Green Book in 1957 and from 1959-1967 as “Lincoln Park Motel—1000 Leggett Rd.” in Rocky Mount.¹ 

Lincoln Park Restaurant & Motel (also Lincoln Park Motel) was a motor court located at 1000 Leggett Road in the historic Lincoln Park neighborhood in Rocky Mount. Lincoln Park, a planned subdivision for African American families, opened to homebuyers in 1948. Lincoln Park Motel opened five years later, in 1953. The motel was owned by Edgecombe County native Clarence E. Pittman, who established the business to provide lodging to tourists and a lunch room and banquet facilities to the Lincoln Park community. The building was designed by Thomas B. Herman.²

At the time of its opening, Lincoln Park Restaurant & Motel had four units available to tourists, each with two double beds, a combination desk and dresser, tile bath with a shower and tub, and hot water heat. The furnishings and overall aesthetic were described as modern. Air conditioning was installed by May 1953. An adjacent building featured a banquet hall (40 person capacity), lunch bar (16 person capacity), and kitchen.³

Lincoln Park Motel hosted numerous community organizations in its banquet facilities and invited tourists and locals to enjoy the lunch bar’s famous pit-cooked barbeque. Pittman woke up at 4:30 in the morning to prepare his signature dish, which he chopped by hand with a cleaver. The recipe came from Pittman’s grandfather and only included salt, pepper, and vinegar. His wife, Annie Sue Pittman, worked alongside him in the restaurant.⁴

In addition to billing itself as “Eastern Carolina’s Finest and Most Modern Eating and Lodging Facilities,” Pittman offered live entertainment. He also hosted a live, 15 minute musical broadcast from the hotel on radio station WCEC on Saturdays at 5:15 pm.⁵

Clarence E. Pittman was born in 1917 in Colerain, Bertie county. His family moved to Walnut Creek in Edgecombe county by 1930. Pittman served in the Army during WWII. He married Annie Sue Mardre after the war and settled in Rocky Mount. In addition to the restaurant and motel, Pittman was co-owner of Pittman-Bullock Cab Company (later Pittman & Batts Cab Company). Clarence Pittman passed away in 1984.⁶

Clarence E. and Annie Sue Pittman sold 1000 Leggett Road to Irene H. Mercer in 1975; her husband, Allen T, Mercer, began running the restaurant the following year. Mercer, a Vietnam Veteran who served in the Army for 23 years, operated Lincoln Park Restaurant & Motel through the early 2010s. The building is still standing.⁷

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022

Oral History

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1957 Green Book, 47; Green, 1959 Green Book, 52; Green, 1960 Green Book, 73; Green, 1961 Green Book, 70; Green, 1962 Green Book, 75; Green, 1963-1964 Green Book, 58; Green, 1966-1967 Green Book, 58.
2. “You Are Invited To The Formal Opening of Lincoln Park Restaurant & Motel” (ad), Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), April 26, 1953, 16, accessed from www.newspapers.com; John Henderson, “Historic Neighborhood Marks the Past,” Rocky Mount Telegram, June 8, 2012, 1A, 3A, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Billy Johnson, “New Negro Motel Will Meet Long Need Here,” Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), May 3, 1953, 12, accessed from www.newspapers.com; 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, 20. 
3.  “I’m Smart! I got a new Carrier Weathermaker” (ad), Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), May 22, 1953, 18, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
4. John Henderson, “Historic Neighborhood Marks the Past,” Rocky Mount Telegram, June 8, 2012, 1A, 3A, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Vannette Pittman Woods, in conversation with Lisa Withers, March 22, 2019.
5. “The 5 J’s Team Up . . .” (ad), Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), May 1, 1953, 7, accessed from www.newspapers.com. 
6. 1910 United States Federal Census, Colerain, Bertie County, North Carolina digital image s.v. “Clarence E. Pittmon,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1930 United States Federal Census, Walnut Creek, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Clarence Pittmon,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1940 United States Federal Census, Walnut Creek, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Clarence Pittman,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Clarence Edward Pittman and Annie Sue Mardre, February 21, 1945, Bertie County, North Carolina, US Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Clarence E. Pittman, April 22, 1917, US Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1950 United States Federal Census, Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Clarence Pittman,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Hill’s 1957 Rocky Mount City Directory, 353b; Hill’s 1960 Rocky Mount City Directory 218b; “Clarence Pittman” (obituary), Rocky Mount Telegram, June 23, 1984, 6, accessed from www.newspapers.com. 
7.  “Edgecombe Deed Transfers,” Rocky Mount Telegram, November 16, 1975, 11, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Mr. Allen T. Mercer” (obituary), November 29, 2016, H.D. Pope Funeral Home, accessed from https://www.hdpopefuneralhome.com/; 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, 20.