Hayes Barton Baptist Church (and Happy Harbor)
This week we feature a rare photochrome postcard depicting Raleigh’s Hayes Barton Baptist Church. Erected at Five Points in 1928, this building was destroyed in a spectacular early morning fire in 1962.
The present church building occupies the site today. What appeals to me most about this postcard, though, is not he card itself, but the message on the back
In 1960, a young Jackie Andrews carefully wrote out and mailed his prized joke to WRAL’s Capt. Five:
First Cowboy: How come you got a dachshound, Tex?
Second Cowboy: Oh, some smart feller told me to get-a-long-little-doggie. So I did.Jackie Andrews
207 E. Drewry Lane
City
The ’Captain Five Show’ was a popular local TV kids’ show during the 1960s. It aired at 5 o’clock on “Channle 5,” and was broadcast from Capt. Five’s WRAL TV studio, ’Happy Harbor.’ (Another Raleigh kids’ show icon of that era, Uncle Paul, was the organist.) My brothers and I often visited Happy Harbor back then. We were lucky, though, because Captain Five was our neighbor who lived across the street.
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03/25/2011
That’s a good one! No wonder you’re so jolly, what a charmed childhood, Karl!
03/25/2011
I love how he just used “City” for Raleigh :) Thanks for sharing!
03/25/2011
I’m pretty sure that this “Jackie Andrews” was a girl who was two years behind me in school. When Raleigh was a much smaller place, many people would just put “City” on the envelope when sending local mail and it would reach its destination.
Raleigh Boy, was Captain Five’s real name Herb Marks? He had a sidekick, seems like his TV name was “Chief Charlie”…right? I’m pretty sure “Charlie” was a student at NC State (got this info from a relative who worked in registrar’s office over there) and his TV career was a sideline.
Good times in front of the TV….
03/25/2011
Raleigh Girl — I looked up ‘Jack Andrews’ in the 1962 city directory when I wrote this post and found a Jack Andrews at the 207 E. Drewry Ln. address. I figured ‘Jackie’ must be ‘Jack junior.’ But I dunno, could be the Jackie you knew.
And yes, Cap Five’s off-stage name was Herb Marks — he and Mrs Marks were good friends of my parents back then. Mr Marks was an amateur ventriloquist too — had had a puppet similar to Edgar Bergan’s ‘Charlie McCarthy.’ Don’t remember Cap Five’s puppet’s name, but it was a frequent guest on Happy Harbor. Mr Marks stored it on a shelf in his tool shed — used to creep me out.
03/26/2011
Jackie’s given name is Jacklyn and she lived on East Drewry Lane. She graduated from NC State, married name is Gooch, and she now lives in Wilmington…according to the online NCSU alumni directory.
I remember the cap that Cap Five wore; doubt that I’d have recognized him without it.
03/26/2011
I watched the Hayes Barton Baptist Church burn. It was spectacular, one of the coolest things I saw as a child. Absolutely fascinating to a child.
And, I visited the Captain 5 show several times. I even guessed what was in the Whatzit Box and took home a prize. I haven’t thought of that in a while.
03/26/2011
Awesome RN — you actually witnessed the Hayes Barton Church conflagration itself! I only saw it on tv then. Do you also remember the Edenton St Methodist Church fire in 1957 and the Lassiter Mill fire in 1958? How about Pullen Hall in 1965?
03/26/2011
While I didn’t actually SEE the Edenton St. UMC fire, I certainly saw/ smelled the smoke from it while visiting at the home of my grandparents who lived right off Glenwood Ave. in the Hayes-Barton area. As members of that church, they were extremely upset at the time.
03/27/2011
I recall the Edenton St Methodist Church burning. I lived in Hayes Barton and the fire lit up the sky with a huge orange glow toward downtown. As a kid we played along Crabtree Creek and I recall hiking down to the mill site after the fire to see the burned building, but I do not recall the fire, as such. No recollection of Pullen Hall.
03/28/2011
RN — I well remember all the big fires in Raleigh back then. My Dad took me to see the ruins of both Lassiter Mill and Edenton St ME Church. Although the church was soon rebuilt, I referred to it as ‘the burned down church’ for many years thereafter. Our next door neighbors were parishioners of Hayes Barton Baptist and were extremely upset about its destruction. Turned out the 1965 Pullen Hall fire was the work of an arsonist — a mentally disturbed NC State student who was ultimately imprisoned for the deed for many years.
03/29/2011
These two links from different Raleigh Fire Department photo sites by Mike Legeros may be of interest:
Hayes Barton Baptist Church Fire, 1962:
http://www.legeros.com/ralwake/raleigh/history/museum/1962-hayes-barton.shtml
Edenton Street Methodist Church Fire, 1956:
http://raleighfirehistory.org/photos/dah/1950s/slides/1956-07-29-NO-edenton-st-methodist-church-after.html
03/30/2011
Curt — thanks for linking the photos of the Hayes Barton and Edenton Street Methodist Church fires — surely of interest to our Goodnight Raleigh readers. Also thanks for the 1950 aerial view of Raleigh showing the Hugh Morson High School site. I can see you have a love for historical photography, as do I.
03/31/2011
I talked to Mr Andrews this afternoon and this is his daughter. Mr Andrews worked with my dad a few decades ago. I’m printing this article for him so he can see it.
05/23/2011
The roof in the 1960 fire fell in on my father Lealon Frazier who was a Raleigh fireman. He was burned on his neck and hands very badly.