Didn’t know Clay Matthews well although he was in my German II class when I was a sophomore and he was a senior. Clay became a clergyman (priest?) in the Episcopal Church. Thad W’s family and mine have gone to the same church for MANY years.I’d say Thad is now one of the “pillars” of this church.About 30 (yikes!) years ago, one of his daughters was in the 2nd grade SS class that I taught.

Hey All,
Raleigh Girl, appreciate the update on Clay Matthews, Confirms that he is not related to the pro football player.
Bob T, I remember Johnny Weaver-he was always the nice guy. Also remember other wrestlers such as The Great Bolo(the masked guy), Two Ton Harris, Haystack Calhoun and the female one The Fabulous Moohlah. I was always mesmerized by watching these folks on TV. Remember Teenage Frolics also from the WRAL studios.
Speaking of restaurants, went many a time with my Dad to the Blue Tower and the Toddle House, both on Hillsborough St. Really good breakfasts.
Do ya’ll remember Crazy Zack’s, which was a “nightclub” on Hillsborough St, I think that was the name. What got me to thinking of that was that I believe it was in the old Amburn Pontiac building on Hillsborough right where Hills. intersects with Gorman Street. Anyway, there used to be a restaurant on the right facing side of that Amburn building that I went to as a kid. I think it specialized in fried chicken. Anyone remember this and know the name of it?
Often think of Nowell’s Village Squire clothing store in Cameron Village. All the cool kids had to go there and buy their Gant shirts, madras belts, English Leather cologne and of course Weejuns. I spent a bunch of money in that store.
Vaughan

Clay was/is an Episcopal minister in New Bern, NC his younger brother Fox/Foxy Mathews lives near Raleigh .

I’ve done some googling on the two Clays,also checked my trusty Broughton alumni directory…Clay the football player is the son of Clay and Leslie Mathews. Clay the Broughton grad has been married for many years to his high school sweetie, Martha. He has risen up through the hierachy of the Episcopal Church and as best I can figure, is now based in Richmond, VA. It appears to me that these two Clays aren’t related, at least not directly.

Joe Snotherly, any relationship to Ronnie? I remember he sold insurance. At one time he had an office in a building down on the end of Six Forks nearer to Wake Forest Rd. I think the building is called Anderson Place. He was an agent for us a long time ago.

Smoky hollow Girl
4/3/2013
Did you know Doris Faye Burnette? She lived with her Aunt and Uncle, (I think they were Murrays’, but not sure, can’t remember) on the corner of Cary St and W Johnson St. Did you live on the same side of the street that Miss Ivey’s was on? If so, they would have lived right across the street from you. I went to Lewis school in the 4th grade and again in the 7th grade, (Miss Annie Rose Southerland was my teacher, my favorite teacher). Then to Garner in the 8th and 10th, and Hugh Morson in the 9th. Yes we moved a lot. My Daddy was a truck driver, and was gone a lot, and Mama was scared in some of the places we lived. I have met a lot of people in my life. I could go on and on about it, but i have probably bored everybody stiff by now. I just love coming here and reading about Smoky Hollow. I had lost this site for awhile, when I had computer crash, but am so glad I finally found it again.

Hey Raleigh Girl,
You may have al;ready gotten an answer to your question. Lewis School was at the corner of Glenwood and Hinsdale Sts, one block from Peace Street. It is now some offices related to the school system-I think.
I was there for the first two years ’53-54, ’54-55. I like someone else’s comment remember Hurricane Hazel in 1954, when we were let out of school early–everyone lived within walking distance. I went to my Dad’s workplace which was part of the old Carolina Power & Light buildings down near where 42nd ST Oyster Bar is now located. I transferred to the old Barbee School which was on the north end of Blount St and is now some special school.

The Lewis School’s building was used as an administration building for years, but it has been the home of Partnership Elementary School since the late 90s. http://partnership.wcpss.net/directions.htm

Partnership is an interesting Wake County public school run on a charter school model.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your memories of Old Raleigh, and especially ‘Smoky Hollow,’ with our readers! Your stories are fascinating to this Raleigh Boy!

About the Lewis School — as Vaughan and Curt have noted, the building still stands on Glenwood Ave in the block between Hinsdale and Devereux. It was built in 1916, the same year as the Murphey School on Person St. Around 1960 the school was closed and used for several decades as an office building for the school system. A 1960s modernist addition obscures the view from Glenwood, but if you walk around to the Devereux St. side you can see the original handsome building. Not long ago WCPSS returned it to use as a school and it now houses the Partnership Elementary School.

Love reading the comments even on five year old articles. Regarding Smoky Hollow, doesn’t it show the great circularity of life that now residents are returning to the area between the railroad tracks through the construction of the luxury high rise apartment buildings (Quorum Center, West at North). Old Smoky Hollow bustles at night now in a way it probably hasn’t in over 50 years. One unfortunate thing for you who follow this thread from out of town and don’t know, but it appears Finch’s is doomed. The Capital Blvd. Bridge over Peace Street is up for replacement in the next three years, and most of the alternatives require the demolition of the building.

I’ve enjoyed reading all the comments about Raleigh having gone to Murphy and Morson (’52). I spent much time at Devereaux Meadow (please no “s”) – got to be visiting bat boy on occasion. Other times hung on tel pole in left field to watch game and chase home run balls. Also chased foul balls in parking lot and on hill back of field. “Freddie” would chase us – once chased me clean to Hayes Barton. I returned via the tracks. I remember the over flow crowds when Durham came to town. Worked at Pine State making ice cream one summer while at UNC with Ray Shaw. Lewis Hawks had so many baseballs that the ball club paid him a visit and bought the balls when baseballs where in short supply. Our pay as bat boy was any broken bats which we taped up and wore out. Don’t ask me what I did yesterday because I don’t remember.

I’m not sure if anyone is still visiting this thread — or if you’ve seen these pictures elsewhere on the Goodnight Raleigh site, since Raleigh Boy helped pull them together — but there are some interesting photos from Smokey Hollow on the Link Peace Street website:
http://linkpeacestreet.com/history.php

So sorry to find this string so late. It’s great. Wondering if anyone remembers Edward’s Drug Store on Hillsboro St. ? They would let kids sit for hours drinking ten cent cokes and reading all of their comic books without buying them.

This is really a continuing trip down memory lane. As I’ve said before, I’m a Raleigh native (now living in central Texas) born at the version of Rex Hospital on St Mary’s Street (which I think was the third location for that institution). I am the ninth of nine kids, attended Murphey School for grades 1-7 and Hugh Morson Jr. High for grades 8-9 and NB Broughton for grades 10-12 covering the years 1948 to the Spring of 1960. I lived on East Street in the middle of the Oakwood neighborhood. My oldest brother will see his 90th birthday in less than 6 weeks and was an active member of the Ole Raleigh Boys until the death of his wife of 63 years. He probably knows more about Oakwood Cemetery and that area of Raleigh than anyone alive.

Having established my bona fides, I will say that I remember the construction of North (now Capitol) Boulevard. There used to be an unpaved road that ran from Peace Street on the South to the foot of Fairview Road on the North passing by the Raleigh Cotton Mill (later Brown-Rogers-Dixon hardware wholesalers, now condos) and Devereaux Meadow. I played junior high football at Devereaux and remember the dressing rooms quite well. [Note: The brick building that is part of the Raleigh Public Works facility was NOT part of the Devereaux Meadow complex. It was a garage built sometime after the construction of North Boulevard.] As a member of the Hi-Y, I ran the drink stand concession behind third base when the Broughton Caps played games at Devereaux.

I remember being a member of the Knot Hole Gang in the late ’40s and early ’50s. That entitled me to free admission to home games of which I missed very few. If memory serves (and these days it often does not) Enos “Country” Slaughter was, at one time, manager of the Raleigh Caps. Later Ducky Medwick managed the team. Does anyone else remember “Stretch” Halleaux (sp?) who played first base for the Caps? He got the name for occasionally doing a balletic split to keep his foot on the bag while snagging a throw in his mitt.
Later, I had a neighbor named Rudy Tanner who played for the Caps. He would occasionally bring a discarded bat and balls beyond use to our local sand lot gang. Later still, Carl Yastrzemski played for the Caps. He is only 3 years older than I am. Although a Yankees fan in the day, I switched over to the Red Sox because of Carl.

I will end this post with a question: Who can tell me who Woodrow was and what his claim to fame was?

Best regards, and thanks to the admins for a great website.

Once again, I am so delighted to see activity on this sight. I love reading the old memories.

Robert Hutchins and Raleigh Girl re Woodrow. He could talk warts off people. He did this for my Aunt Virginia one day. I wasn’t even a figment of anyone’s imagination at the time, but my Grannie, Mother and my Aunt Virginia talked about it. The three were coming down Cary St. one day and ran into him. Grannie asked him to take away Aunt Virginia’s warts on her hands. She didn’t want him to do that because she was embarrassed about the idea of a man standing in the street holding and rubbing her hands while they all talked. Sure enough, he actually did it! Aunt Virginia was “mortified” as she said. Afterall, she was a married woman and something like that just wasn’t done! I never met him but certainly heard many tales about him. (And, BTW, it was a baby carriage rather than shopping cart.)

Readers, please continue the conversations. I love them!

Smokey Hollow Girl

The Pony Club. I was never a member, but I had two friends who were and when they were able to bring visitors I went with them. My friends and I spent a lot of time playing in the woods between there and Wake Forest Road. Walking across Crabtree Creek on Anderson Drive gave me the willies when a car crossed and the bridge shook.

Awesome Thread – I am a 5th generation Raleighite my grandparents owned a bar on Martin or Davie I can’t remember called The Patio – I didn’t see it mentioned in this thread, I would love to see some pics of that, my Mom doesn’t have any. Their names were Red & Dee Perry, he died when I was 13, & Granny when I was 25, I am 40 now. But I’ve heard lots of stories about Raleigh from my Mom, it was a older bar, she was Debbie Perry then, she went to Enloe High School and lived on Plainview off Brookside Dr for many years. My grandpa used to have a gambling ring in his backyard too when they moved to Wake Forest, and he was friends with all the cops, and they played there, ha. Those were the days, I knew nothing of all this as a kid but he did have 2 German Shepherds I loved named King & Queen, LOL.

My Great Grand Daddy was Talmon Finch and he had tobacco fields in Knightdale. He has also passed many years ago.

I came to Raleigh to teach in 1954 and experienced Hurricane Hazel at Longview Gardens School. The next four years I was at Hugh Morson Junior High when it was changed from a high school. Daniels Junior High opened that year. In the fall of 1959 I became principal of Wiley School for six years, leaving in 1965 to attend graduate school at Duke University. I recall students, grades one through six, from Smokey Hollow, the Methodist Home for Children, and Cameron Park. We were often referred to as the most democratic school in the city where the first special education classes were offered along with classes at Murphey School. The years at Wiley were among the most interesting and fulfilling of my career that lasted 38 years total. Have enjoyed reading the entries describing places so familiar to me including Ravenscroft School and places between Saint Mary’s Street and what is now Capital Blvd. Would enjoy hearing from any who were students at Wiley those years; and Hugh Morson also.

Speaking of former teachers at Morson…does anyone recall an art teacher who would have been there around 1959/1960, 20-something, blonde, married, drove a convertible? I didn’t go to Morson but during the time in question (I was in elementary school), I took art during summer school. Class was at Daniels Jr. High, non-credit, 6 weeks, a good reason to be out of the house for a couple hours a day and was taught by a young woman who told us she taught at Morson during the school year. For some reason, seems like her last name was “Murray”…but I could be mistaken on that.

Born 42564 Rex on sait Mary’s
Learned to swim at hayes barton
life guard there 78,79
I miss George
underground at Cameron villagemail
Graduate class of 83 Broughton
I miss old ra Leigh
Ambassador theater watching cartoons

i lived on cary st 4 houses down from seaboard railroad tracks . at the corner at tracks was where w north st began and went to st marys st under the norfolk southern trestle. i walked it every day to school. tucker st was down at the other end of cary st and ran parallel with w north. in the 1950’s all of tucker street was black people cause i was afraid to walk down it by myself at night. cary st ran from the train tracks all the way to peace st and devereux meadows was right across from where cary st ended. my moma and brother and i went to every game. there was a dirt rd between cary st and capital blvd near the tracks. back then it was called downtown blvd. we played ball in the street and sometimes we walked to ravenscroft church on w johnson st to play on their ball field. we went to pine state creamery a lot and had free ice cream. i also remember Fred Fletcher. we did not even have a tv until about 1956 and we only got one then because my brother henry was in a body cast from breaking 80 percent of his bones from throwing rocks while walking backwards in the old incinerator that was on the other side of the train tracks and on the other side of the blvd. he fell into a deep hole. i think we had two channels and that was with an antenna on the roof and rabbit ears. we had a coal heater in the living room and i used to walk down the tracks with my daddy with a wheelbarrow to pick up pieces of coal that fell off the freight trains. the toilet was outside on the back porch and there was no bathtub. i remember when hurricane hazel came through and moma told me to stay under a big bed and i watched her mop the water up that kept coming under the door. i was at wiley elementary school when the storm came and had to walk home 6 blocks in it. we had a bible school on cary st that mrs bunch ran and that is where we went to church. she would take us all to pullen park every summer for a picnic at the roundhouse and pay for swimming and rides for all the kids of the neighborhood. so many memories. when the city decided they were going to tear down the houses in 1960 or 61 we moved to w johnson st almost right behind the mcdonald’s. i walked with other kids to daniels jr high on oberlin rd. we walked down st marys st.
then i lived on w north st next to the funeral home and went to broughton and graduated in 1967. wkix with charlie brown was our radio then. i remember cruising down fayetteville st with the rock and roll blasting. and going to the ambassador theater. eating a blt or a banana split at woolworths. going skating on west street and the roller rink. learning to swim at pullen park in the old swimming pool and dancing to the jukebox they had between the pool and merry go round. things have changed so much. i truly wish that i could find some of my old friends from smokey hollow

HEY SMOKEY HOLLOW GIRL:
I WAS EVELYN LOUISE STAINBACK BACK THEN. I LIVED AT 404 CARY ST FROM WHEN I WAS BORN IN MARCH 1949 UNTIL THEY MADE US MOVE IN 1960 OR 61. SO MY MEMORY COULD BE A LITTLE OFF RE SOME THINGS SINCE I WAS ONLY 10 YEARS OLD ON CARY ST. I GREW UP GOING TO THE BIBLE SCHOOL. MRS BUNCH TAUGHT ME TO PLAY PIANO. MOMA AND I WALKED DOWN THE RR TRACKS TO GET TO MRS BUNCH’S HOUSE THAT WAS IN BOYLAN HEIGHTS AREA. I JUST REMEMBER TUCKER ST BEING BLACK MOSTLY. PLAYED BALL AT RAVENSCROFT CHURCH BALL FIELD. WALKED TO WILEY SCHOOL AND DANIELS JR HIGH AND BROUGHTON. I GRADUATED IN 1967 AND YOU MUST HAVE GRADUATED COUPLE YEARS BEFORE ME. I THINK MY BROTHERS WENT TO HUGH MORSON BEFORE THEY TORE IT DOWN. MY UNCLE JOHN LIVED ON CORNER OF CARY ST AND EITHER TUCKER OR W JOHNSON. HE HAD A DAUGHTER NANCY CAROL BURNETT WHO MAY HAVE BEEN YOUR AGE. I DO NOT REMEMBER THE HOUSE # ON W JOHNSON WHERE WE MOVED IN 61. IT WAS A WHITE HOUSE ON A HILL KIND OF BEHIND MCDONALDS AND WAS IN BETWEEN ST MARYS ST AND BOYLAN AV. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU KNEW MY BROTHER HENRY JACKSON OR MY BROTHER ANDY COLSON. HENRY WAS ALWAYS IN TROUBLE AND SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN THE COMPANY OF THE LAW. I WAS NOT IN GIRL SCOUTS BUT I WAS IN THE SUNBEAMS AT THE SALVATION ARMY. MY MOTHER WAS BELL STAINBACK AND SHE WORKED FOR MRS BUNCH AT THE BIBLE SCHOOL AND TAUGHT KIDS HOW TO SWIM AT THE YMCA AND AT PULLEN PARK. SO MANY PEOPLE KNEW HER. WE DID GO TO DEVEREUX MEADOW TO MOST OF THE BALL GAMES. WE LIVED IN THE 4TH HOUSE DOWN FROM THE RR TRACKS WHERE CARY ST MET WITH W NORTH ST. I REMEMBER THE SWING ON THE PORCH AND MOMA’S SEVEN SISTERS ROSE BUSH WITH THE WHITE ROSES AT THE PORCH. THE BAILEY’S LIVED NEXT DOOR TO US. THE LASSITERS AND PITTMAN’S LIVED NEXT TO THE RR TRACKS. MY AUNT PEARL WOOD LIVED END OF CARY ST WHERE IT MET TUCKER UNTIL THEY MOVED TO CARY NC.
I DON’T KNOW IF KNEW ANY DUPREE’S BUT MY BROTHER ANDY COLSON MARRIED FRANCES DUPREE WHO LIVED SOMEWHERE DOWN NEAR JOHNSON. I MISS MAKING HOMEMADE ICE CREAM ON HOT SUMMER NIGHTS THERE.
EVERYONE CALLED MY DADDY MR WILLIE. HE WORKED AT FISHER’S SANDWICH BAKERY. DID W JOHNSTON ST GO FROM CARY ST TO ST MARYS ST THEN. CROSS WEST ST, THEN GLENWOOD AV, AND BOYLAN AND THEN ST MARYS?. DID YOU LIVE IN THE BLOCK BET WEST AND GLENWOOD? I LIVED IN BLOCK BET BOYLAN AND ST MARYS. PINE STATE CREAMY WAS ON CORNER OF GLENWOOD AND W JOHNSON OR WAS IT THE NEXT STREET UP? I WAS PRETTY YOUNG THEN. MY COUSIN JAMES BURNETT USED TO RUN A CAR REPAIR PLACE NEXT TO THE NORFOLK SOUTHERN TRAIN TRESTLE ON ONE OF THOSE SIDE STREETS.

MARY ANN CREECH. I DID NOT KNOW DORIS BURNETT BUT MY UNCLE JOHN AND AUNT CORA BURNETT LIVED ON CORNER OF CARY ST AND W JOHNSON ST. MY COUSINS WERE NANCY CAROL BURNETT, BOYD DEAN BURNETT, AND JAMES BURNETT. THEY LIVED ACROSS THE STREET FROM MY AUNT PEARL AND UNCLE GEORGE WOOD WITH MY COUSINS ROBERT, MARGARET, LILLIE, GEORGE JR AND ROWENA WOOD. YOU MAY HAVE KNOWN THEM. I REMEMBER MISS IVEY. IT SEEMS LIKE IT WAS UNCLE PET AND AUNT IVEY IF I REMEMBER RIGHT. I LIVED ON CARY STREET ALMOST RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE BIBLE SCHOOL WHERE MRS BUNCH TAUGHT US SUNDAY SCHOOL AND WE HAD VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL. WE HAD MOTHER DAUGHTER BANQUETS THERE. MY MOMA BELL STAINBACK HELPED MRS BUNCH OUT AT THE BIBLE SCHOOL.

hey, i have some old pictures of teenage girls from then and i do not know who they are. wearing clothes from the 50’s. wish i had a way of showing you all my old pictures to see if you know who they are. email me at weezyjones_27597@yahoo.com and give me your email and i can send pics to you maybe

My memory of Smokey Hollow is not one of living there but of watching it disappear. My Father was a contractor in Raleigh during the 50’s and 60’s. The City of Raleigh contracted my Father’s company to tear down and clear the houses of Smokey Hollow. They paid him $100 per house and everything in the house and all the material became his to sell. All the bricks, lumber, windows, etc. would be cleaned and sold on the street where the house sat on Saturday mornings. I worked during the summers helping taking the unusable material to the dump. I remember going with my father to inspect the houses before demo began. Homeless men would be living in the abandoned houses and he would tell them that demolition would begin in a couple of days and they would move further down the row of old houses just ahead of the demo and then saying “I’ll be gone in the morning…gonna catch the train”. As a young teenager, I would look for something of interest in the houses as we walked through them. I still have a very old light bulb(40’s) I found in one of the houses and it still works today even though it’s in a glass case along with some other collectables. Another item was a WWII bayonet.
They were homes to some and a way of making a living for my family. A house’s material would bring in between $1500 and $2500 when all was sold.