Payne's Tourist Home

Payne’s Tourist Home (also called Payne’s Hotel) appeared in the Green Book from 1939-1941, 1947-1950, 1954-1957, 1959, and 1962-1967.  It was located at 417 N. 6th Street in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was listed in the Green Book a number of ways: “Paynes--417 N. 6th St.” under the “Hotels” section from 1939-1949,  “Payne’s Tourist Home--417 N. Sixth St.” under the “Tourist Home” section from 1950-1951, “Charles F. Payne, 417 North 6th St.” under “Tourist Homes” in 1954, and “Payne’s Tourist Home, 417 North 6th St.” under “Tourist Homes” in 1955. The home was owned by Charles F. Payne and his wife, Annie M. Payne.¹

Payne’s Tourist Home, also called Payne’s Hotel, was a Wilmington institution. The hotel opened in 1925 with a grand banquet with 300 guests. It was originally owned by Thomas Payne and managed by Thomas H. Knight, “a well-known railroad man.” In its first year the hotel hosted weddings, parties, and organizational meetings, many of them reported in the national African American newspaper The Pittsburgh Courier.²

By 1926 the hotel was under the ownership and management of Charles F. Payne and his wife, Annie B. Payne. Charles F. Payne was born in North Carolina in 1887. His parents were Lewis Payne, a cooper, and Albina Davis. Charles served in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Spanish American War, enlisting in 1898 and serving until his retirement in 1929. He married Annie Bell Maids around 1917. In the years before they purchased Payne’s Hotel, Charles owned a grocery store and worked as a porter in a department store, Annie worked as a laundress, and the couple had two children, Charles Jr. and Francis. Charles Jr. was born in Massachusetts and Francis was born in Michigan, a testament to the family’s frequent travel during the late 1910’s and early 1920’s.³

Advertised in the Green Book as a home with “comfort and convenience, where particular people stop, steam heated,” Payne’s Hotel featured an open first floor where lodgers could dine and socialize during their stay. Current owner, Jim Lofton, remembers a time when there were no stops for African American travelers along the highway between Maryland and Wilmington, making Payne’s Hotel a welcome respite for out-of-town travelers. The hotel was also popular among performers on the Chitlin’ Circuit, local professionals, sorority and fraternity members, and teachers who were new to the area. The 1930 census listed three professionals lodging at the hotel: a sleeping car porter from North Carolina named Claude Wade, a retail baker from Georgia named Dupry Brown, and an office building janitor from North Carolina named James Faust. The hotel also boasted better known guests, such as musicians Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.⁴

Charles Payne passed away in Wilmington in 1958. Annie B. Payne continued to operate the hotel for the remainder of the time it was advertised in the Green Book. Jim Lofton purchased 416 N. 6th Street from a Payne family member in the 1970’s, and the hotel now operates as an apartment building. Annie Bell Payne passed away in 1987, at the age of 104.⁵

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2019

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1939 Green Book, 33; Green, 1940 Green Book, 36; Green, 1941 Green Book, 36; Green, 1947 Green Book, 65; Victor Green, 1948 Green Book, 63; Green, 1949 Green Book, 57; Victor Green, 1950 Green Book, 63; Green, 1951 Green Book, 55; Victor Green, 1954 Green Book, 54; Victor Green, 1955 Green Book, 54; Victor Green, 1956 Green Book, 47.
2. “Wilmington, NC,” The Pittsburgh Courier, September 12, 1925, p. 6, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Wilmington, NC,” The Pittsburgh Courier, January 9, 1926, p. 14, April 24, 1926, p. 13, and July 31, 1926, p. 6, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
3. Hill’s 1926  Wilmington, N.C. City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory p. 343;  1920 United States Census, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, digital images s.v. "Charles F. Payne,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Charles F. Payne, July 10, 1958, North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Charles Frederick Payne and Wilma Elise Thompson, Virginia, Select Marriages, 1785-1940, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Charles Frederick Payne, U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Charles Frederick Payne, Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC, U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Hill’s 1922  Wilmington, N.C. City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory p. 417; Hill’s 1924 Wilmington, N.C. City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory p. 465.
4. Victor Green, 1956 Green Book, 47; Alma D. Green, 1960 Green Book, 74; Green, 1961 Green Book, 72;  Beverly Smalls, “Lofton Owns ‘Green Book’ Treasure, A Segregation-era Hotel,” Wilmington StarNews, June 7, 2016, https://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20160607/lofton-owns-green-book-tre…, accessed April 25, 2019; Adam Wagner, “Did You Know Wilmington had 2nd-Most Green Book Locations in NC?” Wilmington StarNews, March 18, 2019, https://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20190317/did-you-know-wilmington-ha…, accessed April 25, 2019; “Brown Will Address Colored Trade Body,” The Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), March 2, 1941, p. 9, accessed from https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn78002169/1941-03-02/ed-1/seq-…;  1930 United States Census, Wilmington, New Hanover County,, NC, digital images s.v. "Charles F. Payne,” accessed from www.ancestry.com.
5. Hill’s 1959 Wilmington, (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory p. 279, classified directory, p. 208, street directory, p. 17; Hill’s 1963 Wilmington, (New Hanover County, N.C.) City Directory, Hill Directory Co., Inc.: Richmond, VA, city directory p. 271, classified directory, p. 221, street directory, p. 16; Smalls, “Lofton Owns ‘Green Book’ Treasure;” Wagner, “Did You Know;” Charles F. Payne, July 10, 1958, North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Annie Payne, September 21, 1987, North Carolina, Death Indexes, 1908-2004, accessed from www.ancestry.com.

Did you know?

• Payne’s Tourist Home was listed in multiple different ways in various Green Book editions: 
  • 1939-1941, 1947-1949: Listed as “Paynes--417 N. 6th St.” under the “Hotels” section in Wilmington.
  • 1950-1951: Listed as “Payne’s Tourist Home--417 N. Sixth St.” under the “Tourist Home” section in Wilmington on two lines, bold, and bigger font.
  • 1954: Listed as “Charles F. Payne, 417 North 6th St.” under “Tourist Homes” in Wilmington on three lines, bold, and bigger font.
  • 1955: Listed as “Payne’s Tourist Home, 417 North 6th St.” under “Tourist Homes” in Wilmington on two lines, bold, and bigger font. 
  • 1956: Listed as an advertisement in this edition of the Green Book. Advertisement includes an image of the house with the following wording: “Payne's Tourist Home, Comfort & Convenience, Where Particular People Stop, Steam Heated, C. F. Payne--Proprietor, 417 North 6th Street, Wilmington, North Carolina, Phone: Wilmington 6301.” 
  • 1957, 1959: Listed as “Paynes’ Tourist Home---417 No. 6th St.” in Wilmington.
  • 1960-1961: Entry listed twice in the Green Book. First, as an advertisement with an image of the house with the following wording: “Payne's Tourist Home, Comfort & Convenience, Where Particular People Stop, Steam Heated, C. F. Payne--Proprietor, 417 North 6th Street, Wilmington, North Carolina, Phone: Roger 2-6301.” A second entry is included below the advertisement: “Paynes’ Tourist Home---417 No. 6th Street.” in Wilmington.
  • 1962-1967: Listed as “Paynes’ Tourist Home---417 No. 6th St.” in Wilmington.