Comments on: Reminiscences of a Raleigh Boy: Part 5

By: Mary Ann (Creech) Jefferson

Mary Ann (Creech) Jefferson — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 03:16:35 +0000

I love this website!!! My family lived in Smoky Hollow. It was us kids favorite place of all the places we ever lived. We lived on the corner of W Johnson and N West St in an old church building that belonged to our step-grandmother. The church was not being used anymore, and all the classrooms and stuff had been made into apartments. My brother was Grady Creech, my sister Betty Lou, and 2 smaller siblings. Our step-aunt was Annie Lou Smith. Pigeon House Branch was our favorite place to play, ever!! Just this past weekend, my sisters and brother and I went on a nostalgic trip to some of the old places we lived as children. First we ate at Finch’s (Drive Inn)restaurant, right across from Devereux Meadow. Then Pigeon House Branch was our next stop. We always stop at what little bit of it you can still see (right at bottom of train trestle) and cry awhile, and talk about the good old days. We went to Lewis School (wonderful school). We used to go to Brooks Recreation Center, (roller skating and bowling), Pine State Creamery, and to Miss Ivey’s. We mostly went to Miss Bunch’s on Cary Street! She was a wonderful woman!! One of our favorite pastimes was sliding down the hills at the railroad trestle, we kept them slick. We would get old cardboard boxes and flatten them and slide down those hills on them. I remember so many people from my days at Smoky Hollow and Lewis School. If God would grant me one wish before I died, it would be to have one more good day and be young again in Smoky Hollow!!! I would definitely love to hear from anybody who remembers me from back then!! I will be back here often to see any new posts!

By: Smoky Hollow Girl

Smoky Hollow Girl — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:28:26 +0000

Wow! Some great comments. I’ve been away from the site for several months. Been so busy trying to find a job.

Brooks Roller Skating Rink and Bowling Alley on Tucker St. – remember it well. (It later housed Raleigh Office Supply for many years. When they sold out, people came to buy parts of the skating rink floor, the seats, stuff from the bowling alley. I remember when Hurricane Hazel came through here. I was at Lewis School then over on Glenwood Ave. and near Devereaux St. Parents were called to pick up children to take them home. I didn’t have anyone to pick me up so I walked home (yes, walked and in all that rain and wind. I was in the second grade). Once I got home down in Smoky Hollow on Johnson St., just down from the railroad roundhouse, it was on the radio news that people should evacuate from there because it was prone to flooding in heavy rains. A family came to get me, my mother and grandmother in his huge flatbed truck to take us to Brooks Rink which was being used as a hurricane shelter. It was my first time ever going there.

I’ll have to keep better track of the postings so I’ll be back again belong long.

Smoky Hollow Girl
8-4-11

By: raleighgirl

raleighgirl — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:39:18 +0000

I certainly remember the bowling alley, but was not aware of an ice skating rink. My siblings and I were all born at the “old” Rex Hosp. on Wade/St. Mary’s and a couple relatives died there. Did you know the Davis family on Perry Street? The parents were Hubert and Lucille. And the site of Crabtree Valley Mall—once the property of Kidd Brewer. Remember the sign near the edge of his land which greeted people coming into Raleigh on Hwy. 70: “Vote for Kidd…You’ll be glad you did!” IIRC, he was running for Lt. Gov. in the 50′s. I now live in Olde Raleigh (is that name pretentious or what?)which is on the corner of Edwards Mill and Duraleigh Roads, formerly dirt roads now busy thoroughfares. All that land was once owned by the Mangum family; some Mangums still live in the “homeplace” right across the street from me. Good old days indeed…..

By: Mike H.

Mike H. — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:43:05 +0000

Does anyone remember the Brooks Skating Rink on Tucker Street, one block from the old Ravenscroft school. Beside the skating rink was a bowling alley. Rex Hospital was on the corner of St. Marys Street and Wade Avenue, now owned by the state, employment office.

We lived on Perry Street near 5 Points and a few blocks from the Norfolk Southern Railway yard. In 1952 when I was 5 years old we moved to the country on Edwards Mill Road when it was a dirt road then. Before there was Crabtree Valley Mall, that was a cow pasture with 2 ponds in the middle.

Remember Wonder Bread, the bakery was located across from Meredith College on Hillsborough Street. When I was a kid I remember riding by and smelling the bread cooking. Those good old days are long gone now.

By: raleighgirl

raleighgirl — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 01:59:21 +0000

I certainly remember the Hayes-Barton swimming pool. After all these years (25-35?)since it closed, it still seems odd to pass by there and see townhouses built on that site.

And Conway Chewning…hmmm,I believe I remember you also, not from Ravenscroft or Wiley but from Daniels Jr. High. How many Conway Chewnings could there have been around Raleigh in mid-60′s (or now, for that matter)?

By: Conway Chewning

Conway Chewning — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 01:25:50 +0000

Good post,I moved to Raleigh in 1954 an attended Ravenscroft preschool/kindergaten about ’55/56 eventually went to Wiley. Lived up on St. Marys street in the Cameron Village apts. , across from the Methodist orphanage.Remember when Wade Ave . going west from OBERLIN was just dirt and gravel. Remember the Pine State creamery and Clarke Art. Great time growing up in Raleigh during that time.

Changing the subject, anyone remember Hayes Barton swimming pool?

By: David

David — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 03:43:58 +0000

Glad I found this. A couple of years ago I was at a Mudcats game against a Brewers minor league team managed by Don Money, who played in the majors for several years. He was on a very good Raleigh Pirates team with Al Oliver, Gene Garber, and Richie Hebner. There was a rain delay and I went to the visitors’ dugout. I told Don Money I saw him play in Raleigh and he got up and came over to me and said, “Damn, that was 1967. His first question was, “Is that old ballpark still there?” I had to tell him no, they park garbage trucks there. He didn’t remember much about Raleigh, but he did remember Deveraux Meadow.

By: Laine

Laine — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 23:41:48 +0000

My Dad use to take us to the ballgames at Devereux Meadows. I didn’t know the name of the ballpark until I read these comments. I remember one game we went to, had to be in the late 60′s early 70′s, I had the winning ticket and won a bicycle. We had to go down on the field to show the winning ticket and get the bike. Wonderful game for a small girl!! I had to wait a couple years to ride it since I couldn’t reach the peddles at the time I won it. Dad put it in storage and would bring it out every so often to see if I had grown enough to reach the peddles. It has been great reading all the comments on this site. Thanks!

By: Raleigh Boy

Raleigh Boy — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:03:17 +0000

Phil — Devereaux’s meadow was, of course a real meadow, straddling Pigeon House Branch, before the ball park was built on the site in 1939. I’m not familiar with a “Devereaux Pond.” The well-known 1871 Fendol Beaver’s map of Wake County indicates a mill and pond on Pigeon House Branch at its juncture with another (unamed) creek just north of the city limits. It’s labeled “H Mordecai Mill.” Since the Devereaux and Mordecai families intermarried, this may be the “Devereaux Pond” you are thinking about. The site of the millpond was at the present intersection of N. West St. and Wade Ave., where Wade joins Capital Blvd. There is a concrete plant there today. Here is the location on the 1871 map

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:51:43 +0000

Wow! What a find. Too bad I have not seen this site before. I am one of the youg pups that grew up in Raleigh in the 50′s. I remeber Smokey Hollow, Deveraux Meadows, Fred Fletchers “Tempus Fugit” morning show on the WRAL radio, Piggy Park, Hound-Dog, etc, etc.
MY QUESTION IS, WAS PIGEON hOUSE BRANCH EVER DAMNED TO FOR DEVERAUX POND? OR WAS DEVERAUX POND LOCATED ELSWHERE?