McRae's Taxi

McRae’s Taxi was listed in the Green Book from 1947-1955 as “MacRae—106 S. Macon St.” under “Taxicabs” in Greensboro.¹

Wiley Tennyson McCrae opened McRae’s Taxi in 1934. The business originally had only one driver; by 1946, the cab company had eight stations and 32 drivers. The business also had a parts and accessories department, two switchboard operators, a clerk, a business manager, and a purchasing agent. All together, McRae had a staff of over 40 people when he began advertising in the Green Book in 1947.²

Wiley Tennyson McCrae (also McRae) was born in Chester, South Carolina in 1909. He was a lodger in the O’Neil household (at 122 Regan Street and, later, at 122 N. Mason Street) before marriage and worked as a grocery porter and cab driver. He married Clara Belle Holt in 1942. Clara was born in Graham, North Carolina in 1918. She was the business’s first manager and took over the cab company when Wiley passed away in 1955. She managed the cab company on her own for fifteen years.³

The McCraes were active in the community and were supporters of North Carolina A&T University. They advertised services needed by students at NC A&T and at Bennett College, such as baggage handling and transfers from the airport or bus station.⁴

Clara Bell Holt McCrae died in 2007.⁵

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2024

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 64; Green, 1948 Green Book, 62; Green, 1949 Green Book, 56; Green, 1950 Green Book, 62; Green, 1951 Green Book, 53; Green, 1952 Green Book, 53; Green, 1953 Green Book, 53; Green, 1954 Green Book, 53; Green, 1955 Green Book, 53. 
2.   R. Irving Boone, ed., Negro Business and Professional Men and Women: A Survey of Negro Progress In Varied Sections of North Carolina, Vol. 2 (Wilmington, NC: R. Irving Boone, 1946), 10.
3. “Wiley Mcrae,” 122 Regan Street, Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, 1930 United States Federal Census, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Clara Belle Holt and Wylie McRae, 12 January 1942, Forsyth County, North Carolina, US Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from ancestry.com; “Wiley McCray,” 122 N. Mason Street, Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, 1940 United States Federal Census, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Wiley McRae,” September 18, 1955, Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, US Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Ann McCrae Smith (funeral Program, January 23, 2010, accessed May 9, 2019 from: http://dudleyhigh64.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Ann-McRae-Smith.pdf;  “Clara Belle Hold McRae” (obituary), News and Record (Greensboro, NC), July 4, 2007, p. 14, accessed from newspapers.com.
4. McCrae Taxi” and “”McRae Baggage & Transfer,” The Bennett Banner, March 1, 1948, p. 4, accessed April 10, 2019 from Digital NC, http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2014236904/1948-03-01/ed-1/seq-4; “Citizens Launch Campaign to Raise $5,000 for Dudley High School Band,” The Future Outlook (Greensboro: NC), November 23, 1946, p. 1, accessed from Digital NC,  http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn97064597/1946-11-23/ed-1/seq-1
5. “Clara Belle Hold McRae” (obituary), News and Record (Greensboro, NC), July 4, 2007, p. 14, accessed from newspapers.com.