History of Washington Park's Development Companies
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Information from the National Register of Historic Places: Architects | Development Companies | Residents | History of Winston-Salem | Ludlow's Plan | The Park | Streetcars
On October 16, 1890, just three months after the opening of the streetcars, the Winston-Salem Land & Investment Co. was incorporated. Among the fourteen "corporators" were Henry Fries, A.H. Eller and Henry Bahnson. Of the fourteen, five were from New Bern, four from Winston, three from Salem, and one each from Goldsboro and High Point. The amount of the capital stock was given as $250,000 divided into two thousand and five hundred shares at $100 each. Two and one-half weeks later, on November 3, 1890, the Winston Development Company's incorporation is the next listing in the deed book. Twenty-two corporators' are listed with the number of shares taken by each. Their home cities are not listed. Only H.J. Bahnson is listed as a corporator for both companies. The amount of capital stock was $100,000 divided into 1,000 shares at $100 each.
These companies were followed by others which invested in the Washington Park neighborhood. The Inside Land Co. incorporated in 1894, followed by the Inside Land and Improvement Co. (1904), Southside Land and Investment Company (1901), and the Winston Investment Company (1909). Individuals were also actively engaged in real estate during these years of rapid expansion. The Fogle family alone has twenty pages in the Grantor Index from 1849 to 1927, with each line representing a transaction. The Fogles sold a number of parcels in the 1890s; some of the purchasers include Southside Land & Investment Co., WSL&I, Inside Land Co., Winston Development Co., and individuals. As late as 1925 there was a Banner Investment Co.
In Southside, land could change hands several times before being developed. Several recorded plats illustrate this trend. A plat dated July 1911 shows the 'property of Foltz and Spaugh' to include all the land from Salisbury Road in the western part of the neighborhood up past Acadia, Banner and Cascade avenues to the park, with lot divisions matching Ludlow's. The area was included in Ludlow's survey for WSL&I but much of it is not in the boundaries of the historic district because the majority of buildings were built after World War II.
A plat dated March, 1915, shows the 'Property of C. R. Fleming' to include the west side of Park Boulevard north of Vintage, with 'Miller' written across several large lots, reflecting William Miller's ownership of #42 Park and parcels to the north.