V Point

V Point was listed in the Green Book as ‘V point’--- Murchison Rd.” under “Restaurant” from 1951-1954 and as “‘Vpoint,’ 50 Roberson Street” under “Restaurant” in 1955. The restaurant was never located at 50 Roberson Street; this was the address of the business’s owner, James Tillman Newkirk.¹

“V Point” was a business complex located at 497-501 Murchison Road in Fayetteville. It was anchored by V Point Super Market at 500 Murchison Road, a white-owned business that catered to an all-Black clientele. The supermarket was owned by V.F. Talley, a businessman and philanthropist who was known for offering credit to African Americans and for funding scholarships for local African American students. Talley made V Point a community institution; African American churches held functions and fundraisers in the store parking lot and reservation space was available to community members. Locals remember Talley as someone who was respectful of his customers and willing to cross the color line during the Jim Crow era.²

The V Point advertised in the Green Book was likely V Point Snack Shop, located at 499 Murchison Road from 1948-1949 and at 496 Murchison Road from 1951-1956. The snack shop was owned by James Tillman Newkirk and first opened between 1946 and 1948. It was advertised as selling sandwiches, snacks, ice cream, cold drinks, hamburgers, cigars, cigarettes, gas and oil.³

James Tillman Newkirk was born in 1918 and lived in Fayetteville his entire life. Prior to opening the snack shop he did odd jobs and worked at the Pepsi Bottling Company. He and his wife, Rosalie Baker, moved in with Rosalie’s parents on Murchison Road in the 1930s; the couple and their children moved into a home of their own, also on Murchison Road, in the 1940s. Charles R. Newkirk (who may have been James’s brother) took ownership of the snack shop in 1956. James Newkirk passed away in 1983.⁴

Another business, V Point Grill, appeared in the city directory in 1956. This business was owned by Jesse A. Pate and was located at 501 Murchison Road. It was later called Garris V Point Grill.⁵

The building that housed V Point Super Market and V Point Snack Shop was flooded in 2016 during Hurricane Matthew and, as a result, abandoned. It is no longer standing.⁶

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; Victor Green, 1955 Green Book, 53.
2. Pyramid Environmental and engineering, Preliminary Site Assessment: Parcel 038, Council & Williford Properties, Fayetteville, Cumberland County, assessment prepared for NC DOT, March 14, 2014, accessed from ncdot.gov; Myron B. Pitts, “Pitts; During Jim Crow Era, Green Books Were More Than Just Travel Guides, The Fayetteville Observer, February 25, 2019, https://www.fayobserver.com/news/20190225/pitts-during-jim-crow-era-gre…; Myron B. Pitts, “Pitts: Oscar-Winning ‘Green Book’ Gives Us a Chance to Talk About the Real Travel Guides,” The Fayetteville Observer, February 25, 2019, https://www.fayobserver.com/news/20190225/pitts-oscar-winning-green-boo…; Alicia Banks, “V-Point Supermarket’s Closing a Loss for Murchison Road Community,” The Fayetteville Observer, August 10, 2013, https://www.fayobserver.com/article/20130810/News/308109892.
3. Hill’s 1946 Fayetteville City Directory, 702, street listing; Hill’s 1948-1949 Fayetteville City Directory, 490 (alphabetical listing); Advertisement, The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), April 2, 1948, p. 3, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org; Advertisement, The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), October 15, 1949, p. 9, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org; Advertisement, The Carolinian (newspaper), June 24, 1950, p. 9, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org; Hill’s 1951 Fayetteville City Directory, p. 465 (alphabetical listing); Hill’s 1953 Fayetteville City Directory, 466 (alphabetical listing); Hill’s 1954-1955 Fayetteville City Directory, 336 (alphabetical listing); Hill’s 1956 Fayetteville City Directory, 108, 136 (street guide).
4. 1930 United States Federal Census, 71st Township, Cumberland County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “James T. Newkirk,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1940 United States Federal Census, Murchison Road, Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “James Newkirk,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; James Tillman Newkirk, October 27, 1918, Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, US World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940 - 1947, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1950 United States Federal Census, Murchison Road, Fayetteville, Cumberland County, digital image s.v. “James Newkirk,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; James Tillman Newkirk, June 5, 1983, Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, US Death Indexes, 1908-2004, accessed from www.ancestry.com.
5. Hill’s 1956 Fayetteville City Directory, 108, 136 (street guide); “V Point Grill,” ad, The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), September 26, 1959, p. 14, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org; “Garris V Point Grill,” ad, The Carolinian, November 7, 1964, p. 13,  accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org.
6. Andrew Barksdale, “Fayetteville officials eye lower Bragg Boulevard for redevelopment,” The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, NC), February 18, 2017, accessed from https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/2017/02/18/fayetteville-official…;