Wilson's (Wilson's Barber Shop)

Wilson’s Barber Shop was advertised in the Green Book in 1940 and again from 1947-1955. It was listed in the Green Book as “Wilson’s -- 13 Eagle St.” The barber shop was owned by Harry Phillip Lynn and Ann Olivette Lynn during the time it was advertised in the Green Book. This historically African American area of Asheville (the intersection of Eagle & Market Streets) is often referred to as “The Block.”¹

J. Alfred Wilson originally opened Wilson’s Barber Shop prior to 1901.The barber shop moved from Main Street in the early 1900s to 16 S. Pack Square by 1904, then to 29 Biltmore Street, where it remained until 1924. In 1925, the barber shop moved to the newly completed J.A. Wilson building at 13 Eagle Street.² 

The J.A. Wilson building is a two-story building located at the intersection of Eagle Street and Wilson Alley. The building was constructed by Miller Brothers Contractors for J.Alfred Wilson. The building’s tenants over the years included doctors, dentists, real estate agents, barbers, lawyers, and other African American professional offices and businesses. J.A. Wilson also owned Wilson Undertaking, located at 18 Eagle Street.³

Wilson continued to operate the barber shop until 1935. One of Wilson’s barbers, Felix S. Pagan, briefly took over the business from 1936-1937, and Harold Phillip Lynn became its manager in 1938.⁴

Harold Phillip Lynn (b. 1908 in Oxford, Ohio) operated Wilson’s Barber Shop with his wife, Ann Olivette Lynn (Tatum, b. 1905 in Mississippi), from 1935 until his death in 1956.⁵ The couple married in Greene, Ohio, in 1928 and moved to Asheville, NC, later that year. They resided at the home of Ann’s mother, Hattie Bell Tatum, at 125 Poplar Street.6

Although Harold Lynn managed the barber shop, it appears to have been owned by Ann Lynn. Ann and her mother, Hattie Tatum, each acquired building permits or engaged in real estate transactions for properties originally owned by J. Alfred Wilson, suggesting a connection. In 1953, Ann transferred a number of properties out of (and then back into) her name; these included properties on Poplar Street, Eagle Street, Biltmore Avenue, South Beaumont Street, and Hazzard Street--all associated with J. Alfred Wilson according to city directory records.7

After Harold P. Lynn died in 1956, the barber shop was no longer advertised in the Green Book. It was operated by Rev. Henry A. Howard as a beauty and barber supply shop, from 1957-1959, although building permit records indicate that Ann O. Lynn continued to own the business. According to his obituary, Rev. Howard also operated the Savoy Hotel, another business advertised in the Green Book.8 

After 1960, the barber shop was operated as Wilson Building Barber Shop by Howard Clinkscales. Clinkscales is Ann O. Lynn’s surname at the time of her death, though records connecting her to Howard Clinkscales have not been located to date. Ann died, in Asheville, in 1979.9

Wilson’s Barber Shop continued to operate until the 1990s, though it struggled to maintain adequate staffing levels due to a shortage of African American barbers. Of the shop’s seven chairs, only four were staffed in June 1991. The four barbers working at Wilson’s at the time were all in their 50s, and an article in the Asheville Citizen-Times later that year noted that the shop had begun hiring barber apprentices to encourage young people to join the field. The barber shop closed some time prior to the early 2000s.10

In the early 2000s, “The Block” underwent a period of being brought back to life (revitalized) although many of the historically African American businesses are no longer in the area. A restaurant called Limones opened at 13 Eagle in 2004 and continues to operate in the space today.¹¹

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2019

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1940 Green Book, 35; Green, 1947 Green Book, 64; Green, 1948 Green Book, 61; Green, 1949 Green Book, 55; Green, 1950 Green Book, 61; Green, 1951 Green Book, 52; Green, 1952 Green Book, 52; Green, 1953 Green Book, 52; Green, 1954 Green Book, 52; Green, 1955 Green Book, 52; the Green Book was not published during World War II;  “BLOCK: Business Owners Hope New Development Brings Traffic,” Asheville Citizen-Times, August 25, 2004, pp. B1, B7, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
2. “Mr. Sidney Woodward’s Song Recital and Concert,” Asheville Citizen-Times, August 26, 1901, p. 4, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Asheville, NC City Directory, 1904-1905 (Richmond: Hill Directory Company), Classified Directory, p. 281, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Negroes Fight it Out with Knife and Rock,” Asheville Citizen-Times, February 13, 1910, p. 3, accessed from www.newspapers.com (note: article corrected in the next issue, February 14, p. 5 -- fight took place on a different street, not at the barber shop), Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), City Directory (Asheville, NC: The Miller Press): 1920 Asheville City Directory, p. 492; 1921 Asheville City Directory,  p. 492; 1922 Asheville City Directory, p. 500; 1923 City Asheville Directory, p. 512; 1924 Asheville City Directory,  p. 592, accessed from https://archive.org; Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC) 1925 City Directory (Asheville, NC: The Miller Press), p. 770, accessed from https://archive.org;  “Building Permits,” Asheville Citizen-Times, January 17, 1935, p. 8, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Rob Neufeld, “Eagle Street business brimmed behind City Hall,” Asheville Citizen-Times, July 9, 2018, p. A3, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
3.  “The Wilson Building,” photograph description, image by Andrea Clarke (1968), NC Collection at Pack Library, accessed from https://tinyurl.com/yynz9hz3; Rob Neufeld, “Eagle Street business brimmed behind City Hall,” Asheville Citizen-Times, July 9, 2018, p. A3, via www.newspapers.com.
    
4. Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC) 1935 City Directory (Asheville, NC: The Miller Press), p. 631, 633, accessed from https://archive.org; Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC), 1936 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), p. 601, 698, accessed from https://archive.org; Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC) 1937 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), p. 601, accessed from https://archive.org; Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe Co., NC) 1937 City Directory (Asheville, NC: Piedmont Directory Company), p. 340, accessed from https://archive.org; Rob Neufeld, “Eagle Street business brimmed behind City Hall,” Asheville Citizen-Times, July 9, 2018, p. A3, accessed from www.newspapers.com. 
5.  “Harold Lynn” (obituary), Asheville Citizen-Times, May 23, 1956, p. 3, via www.newspapers.com.
6. Harold Phillip Lynn and Anne Olivet Tatum, March 6, 1928, Greene, Ohio, Ohio Marriage Records, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Harold P. Lynn, May 26, 1908, Asheville, NC,” NC Death Certificates, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Hattie Bell Tatum,” Asheville Ward 1, North Carolina, Sheet 2A, 1940 United States Federal Census, accessed from www.ancestry.com. 
7.  “Real Estate Transfers,” Asheville Citizen-Times, November 10, 1953, p. 10; “Building Permits,” Asheville Citizen-Times, September 20, 1950, p. 20; “Building Permits, Asheville Citizen-Times, October 16, 1951, p. 3; Miller’s Asheville City Directory, 1935-1955, street directory listings for “13 Eagle Street,” city directory listings for “Lynn, Harold”  and “Wilson’s Barber Shop”  (Richmond, VA: Piedmont Directory Company), accessed from https://archive.org; Miller’s Asheville City Directory, 1918-1935, city directory listings for “J. Alf Wilson” and “J. Alfred Wilson,” (Asheville, NC: Miller Press) accessed from https://archive.org. 
8. “Rev. Henry Howard” (obituary), Asheville Citizen-Times, October 17, 1982 (accessed from www.newspapers.com.); “Building Permits,” Asheville Citizen-Times, April 11, 1957, p. 9; Miller’s Asheville City Directory, 1956-1963, street directory listings for “13 Eagle Street,” city directory listings for “Wilson Building Barber Shop and “Howard’s Beauty and Barber Supplies” (Richmond, VA: Piedmont Directory Company), accessed from https://archive.org.
9. “Ann Olivette Tatum Clinkscales,” 1905-1979, Riverside Cemetery, Asheville, NC, Find A Grave, accessed from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51204579; “Ann Olivette Clinskcale, September 6, 1979, North Carolina, Death Indexes, 1908-2004, accessed from www.ancestry.com. 
10.  “Asheville’s Older Generation of Black Barbers Wonder Who Will Succeed Them,” Asheville Citizen-Times, June 12, 1991, Southside Neighbors, p. 2. Accessed from www.newspapers.com.Henry Robinson, “Job Puts Teen on Right Track,” Asheville Citizen-Times, December 4, 1991, p. 8, via www.newspapers.com.
11.  “BLOCK: Business Owners Hope New Development Brings Traffic,” Asheville Citizen-Times, August 25, 2004, pp. B1, B7; “A Taste of California,” Asheville Citizen-Times, June 30, 2004, p. 23, both accessed from www.newspapers.com; Limones restaurant, http://www.limonesrestaurant.com/.