The houses on Odell Street

 

I look at these old photos and try to reconcile the places I visited and the stories I heard. The two top photos are the same house on Odell Street, but taken years apart. The bottom photo, I believe, is the older house that used to stand just above it. 

Elizabeth Royal was born in 1860. She was 5 when her family moved to North Wilkesboro. I am not sure if this was the house and land her family moved to. I do know that there were two lots with the old house and the new house. My dad grew up in the lower house, the new house. My great grandma Combs owned the whole property and lived in the old house. From all accounts, she was a hard woman. 

I don’t know when the old house was torn down. Great Grandma passed away in 1952, around the age of 92. I look at this photo that is dated on the back “sometime in the 40’s.” This house barely looks like it could stand through another snowy winter. 

I think I was around 3 when I was first taken to visit, sometime in the late 1950’s. I remember that asphalt siding being added to the house my dad grew up in. It was more to keep the winter winds out than for appearance. I think my dad replaced the roof at the same time. They still had a pump for the kitchen sink and a wood burning stove. The only toilet was in the outhouse out back. 

By my second visit, when I was 7, running water had been added. A bathroom had been built in a storage area off the kitchen at the back. But if you wanted a hot bath, you had to dip hot water from the reservoir on the wood burning stove. Not worth the effort in the summer. 

I only knew my grandma Combs after her stroke. All my uncles (she bore 9 boys and one girl) agreed she turned gentle and sweet after her stroke. But I heard stories of her younger fiery nature . Can’t say that I blame her, imagine raising all those boys in that two bedroom house. She would have them all lined up at the end of the day when their dad came home from work. She would walk down the line, telling him which ones to take to the woodshed after dinner. 

In the early 1970’s this house was torn down. The last time I visited, it still only had a wood burning stove for cooking, hot water, and warmth in the snowy winters. Uncle Edgar lived there with his wife and three children. He had become disabled by arthritis. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) made them a deal on the two lots. They tore down the old house and outbuildings. Then they built a modern, modest three bedroom and sold it back to my uncle at a cost he could afford. I imagine they also built a similar house on the higher lot for another low income family. 

In these stories I am writing, I have mostly shared about my mom’s family. Well, I knew them better. But I also want to start sharing stories of my dad and his brothers and sister. So many of them revolve around this place, almost like it’s a character all on its own. So here are the photos I have and the history I know. 

North Wilkesboro is in northwest North Carolina. It is the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They were “in town” but it wasn’t considered a nice part of town. However, it was a place families stayed through generations. Some of the stories I heard reflect an older mountain way of life. I heard them as small and tall tales, around different tables or sitting on the porch, that same front porch in the photo.

I remember those hot humid nights when we drove back for summer vacation. After dinner at the table, the grownups dragged their chairs out into the cooling evening. We kids would chase each other or the fireflies. Neighbors would walk up and down the street, stopping to say “Hey!” and share a bit of gossip. I loved to sit on the porch swing and just listen. 

Come back real soon. Pull up a chair and I’ll pour you a glass of sweet tea. Let’s swap a story or three.