Palm Garden
The Palm Garden was listed in the Green Book from 1939-1941 and 1947-1949 as “Palm Garden—192 Broad Street” under “Taverns” in New Bern.1
The Palm Garden was open at 192 Broad Street as early as 1937. It was co-owned by George Downing and Walter A. Godette. The Palm Garden was located in historic Five Points, an African American business district. Downing and Godette each owned other businesses; Downing operated Downing’s Cafe, while Godette owned Godette & Sons Funeral Home.2
Walter Alexander Godette was born in North Carolina in 1897. He was enumerated as a single farmer in 1950 (presumably after the Palm Garden closed) and married Dora McDaniel in 1960. He passed away in New Bern in 1968 and was buried in the community of Harlowe.
George Washington Downing was born in Cofield, North Carolina in 1891. He married Alberta Shepard in 1925 and lived in New Bern until his death in 1965.3
The building that housed the Palm Garden is no longer standing and may have been demolished in the 1950s when Broad Street (US Highway 17) was broadened.4
Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022
Notes
1. Victor Green, 1939 Green Book, 33; Green, 1940 Green Book, 36; Green, 1941 Green Book, 36; Green, 1947 Green Book, 65; Green, 1948 Green Book, 63; Green, 1949 Green Book, 57.
2. Baldwin’s 1937 New Bern City Directory, 93, 109, 167, 223, 288, 312; Bill Hand, “The historical Green Book Project will emphasize the book’s stamp on North Carolina life,” Sun Journal (New Bern), February 16, 2019, https://www.newbernsj.com/news/20190216/historical-green-book-project-w…; The Mullin-Kille and Sun-Journal New Bern, North Carolina ConSurvey City Directory, Volume 2 (Mullin-Kille Company and the New Bern Sun Journal: Chillicothe, Ohio, 1958), 346, 363; Baldwin’s 1937 New Bern City Directory, 73, 109, 149, 156.
3. 1900 United States Federal Census, Township 5, Craven County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Walter H. Godett,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1950 United States Federal Census, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Walter Godette,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Walter Godette and Dora McDaniel, June 5, 1960, Jones County, North Carolina, Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Walter Alexander Godette, May 29, 1968, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina Death Certificates, 1909-1975, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
4. George Washington Downing, May 23, 1965, New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com; George Downing and Alberta Shepard, January 21, 1925, Craven County, North Carolina, U.S. Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
5. 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), 22-23.