CLARK S. BROWN & SONS FUNERAL HOME LAST REMAINING BUSINESS OF BLACK WALL STREET ERA
Long before there was a Bailey Park or Innovation Quarter, the area of downtown Winston-Salem surrounding the old R.J. Reynolds Tobacco manufacturing facilities and Bailey Power Plant was known as Depot Street, a hub for Black business and entrepreneurship.
In the late-19th century tobacco was king in the towns of Winston and Salem and Blacks from across the state were relocating here to work in factories owned by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Intrigued by the opportunity of making more money doing less strenuous work, between 1880 and 1890 more than 3,000 Black families moved to the area, an increase of 216%…