Small's Service Station
Small’s Service Station was listed in the Green Book from 1951-1955 as “Small’s—Cor. S. Rd. & Roanoke Ave.” under “Service Stations” in Elizabeth City.1
Small’s Service Station was located at 615 South Road Street in Elizabeth City, NC. The garage was owned by Eugene L. Small, who lived nearby at 512 South Road Street. Small owned the business as early as 1949. The garage was described as a “1.5-story 3-bay gable-front metal sided garage with 1 front garage door.” 2
Eugene Linwood Small was born in 1909 in Perquimans County. He married Sallie Alverta Elliot in 1940; the couple later divorced. Small moved to Virginia in the late 1950s or early 1960s and was briefly married to Bessie Omega Harrell in the mid-1960s. He passed away in 1976.3
The service station was no longer operating in 1955 and was replaced by Doxey Garage. The service station is still standing.4
Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022
Notes
1. Victor Green, 1951 Green Book, 53; Green, 1952 Green Book, 53; Green, 1953 Green Book, 53; Green, 1954 Green Book, 52; Green, 1955 Green Book, 53.
2. Miller’s 1949 Elizabeth City, NC City Directory, 420 (street listing), 299 (alphabetical listing); 1950 United States Federal Census, Elizabeth City, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Eugene Small,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Shepard Street-South Road Street Historic District,” Elizabeth City, NC, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 1994, accessed from https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/PK0833.pdf.
3. Eugene Linwood Small, August 12, 1909 (delayed birth certificate), Perquimans County, North Carolina, U.S. Birth Indexes, 1800-2000; Sallie Alverta Elliot and Eugene Linwood Small, December 13, 1940, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, U.S. Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Eugene Linwood Small and Bessie Omega Harrell, December 23, 1964, Norfolk County, Virginia, U.S. Marriage Records, 1936-2014, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Eugene A [sic] Small and Bessie Harrell, February 2, 1967, Virginia, U.S.Divorce Records, 1918-2014, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Eugene Small, September 29, 1976, Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. Death Records, 1912-2014, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
4. Miller’s 1955 Elizabeth City, NC City Directory, 417 (street listing); “Shepard Street-South Road Street Historic District,” Elizabeth City, NC, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 1994, accessed from https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/PK0833.pdf; Google Maps entry for 615 South Road Street, Elizabeth City.