Taxicab Service
Taxicab Service was listed in the Green Book in 1939. It was incorrectly listed in the Rocky Mount section under “Taxis” as “Taxicab Service – 508 E. Nash St.” Census and city directory records indicate that Taxicab Service was actually located at 508 E. Nash Street in Wilson.1
Taxicab Service was a Green Book business located in the Abbitt Building in Wilson, NC. The Abbitt Building is a multi-unit commercial rental building that was constructed between 1922 and 1933 by Henry W. Abbitt. The original tenant of 508 E. Nash Street was also a taxi service called “The City Taxi.” 2
Wilson native Hugh T. Foster (1897-1959) began operating Taxicab Service from 508 E. Nash Street in the late 1930s. The business appeared in the 1937 and 1938 Wilson city directories. Foster married Minnie Drewery in 1938; by 1940, the couple was living at 508 E. Nash Street. Foster was still living and working at this address when he registered for the draft in 1942. At the time of his death, in 1959, Foster still lived at 508 E. Nash Street but was working in a tobacco factory. Research has not yet indicated whether he continued to operate the taxi business.3
508 E. Nash Street later housed other businesses and organizations, including a church. The Abbitt Building is still standing and 508 E. Nash Street and appears to be vacant as of February 2022.4
Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022
Notes
1. Victor Green, 1939 Green Book, 33.
2. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, “Wilson Central Business-Tobacco Warehouse Historic District,” 1984, https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/WL0442.pdf.
3. 1930 United States Federal Census, 411 East Green Street, Wilson, Wilson County, NC, digital image s.v. “Hugh Foster,” accessed from www.ancestry.com;Telephone Directory for Rocky Mount, Enfield, Nashville, Spring Hope, Tarboro, Whitakers, and Wilson N.C., Wilson Listings, 14, Fall 1937; Telephone Directory for Rocky Mount, Enfield, Nashville, Spring Hope, Tarboro, Whitakers, and Wilson N.C., 1938, Wilson Listings, 13; 1940 United States Federal Census, 508 E. Nash Street, Wilson, Wilson County, NC, digital image s.v. “Hugh Foster,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Hugh T Foster and Minnie Drewery, November 5, 1938, Nash County, North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011, accessed from www.ancestry.com; Hugh Foster, June 16, 1959, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909 - 1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
4. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, “Wilson Central Business-Tobacco Warehouse Historic District,” 1984, https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/WL0442.pdf; Entry for 508 E. Nash Street, Google Maps.
Did you know?
- This Green Book entry was listed as located on 508 E. Nash St. in Rocky Mount instead of Wilson, North Carolina.