December 27, 2013 Coats Museum News
When you attended school, was your ride to school called a school truck or a school bus? I do know that in 1947 the HCBOE appropriated $2,700 to insure riders on the school buses (Dunn Dispatch June 2, 1947). We know part of the answer-they were called buses in 1947. Were the buses ever made mainly of wood? Was there a row of seats down the middle?
In 1947, Dr. Fred Fleming was occupying his new building located one block from the main highway. Do you know where that was? Was he originally located on Main Street? While the doctor was relocating, the 1947 Coats High seniors went on a sightseeing tour of Washington, D.C.(Dunn Dispatch June 5, 1947).Would it not be interesting to know what class was the first one to go to the nation’s capital city?
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Daniel and family had spent Sunday at White Lake. Eugene Stewart of Dunn had accepted a job at the Coats Motor Company. Was he a second generation car salesman? Mr. and Mrs. Dave House had made their home in Dunn. Ed Breeding had accepted a position at Beasley’s Barber Shop (Dunn Dispatch June 5, 1947).
How many of you know where the Beasley Barber Shop was located on Main Street in Coats? Did any of you get a shave, have your shoes shined or take a shower in the back rooms? Were men able to order a nice suit there? Better yet-how many of you are excited or aware that the former T.O. Beasley-(Fleetwood Adams) Barber Shop has been remodeled by our faithful museum volunteer, Eric Fann. He and his friends have put in a lot of time and expense to make it a nice place to once again be a place to get a haircut. Sorry-there will be no showers in the back rooms but the two rooms may be available to rent. Surely Mr. T.O. Beasley and the others would be proud that Eric has it returned to some of its roots. Several vintage pictures will be displayed in the shop when he has the grand opening on January 3 rd. Attend and be a part of the new history of Coats.
Harnett County was informed that it could not ban carnivals. The Joel H. Poole family could have cared less because they were dealing with his death on Route One, Coats. The 71 year-old- man had died at his home on Sunday. He was buried at the Williams Cemetery after a funeral service was held at his home. He was survived by his widow, Fannie Poole, and his children-Hiram, Moses, and Pearl ( Fleshman) Tart. R.A. Poole and Zennie Poole were his brothers and Mrs. Monroe Surles, Mrs. Tom Williams, Mrs. Minnie Winston, Mrs. Ed Dixon, Mrs. Frank Stone, and Mrs. Joe Stewart were her sisters. Pallbearers were Albert Regan, Woodrow Stewart, Nelson Stewart, Grand Stewart and Lentis Poole (Harnett County News June 12, 1947).
Harnett County had 330 teachers and 18 vocational teachers. There were 93 colored teachers and 2 Indian teachers. Coats had 25 of those teachers with 2 at Oakdale in 1947. The Harnett County also had 57 ponds completed. They were built under the Soil Conservation Service. The ponds served for watering stock, transplanting tobacco, watering plant beds, swimming, boating, fishing, and baptizing. Did they use them for washing the fertilizer out of the bags so the bags could be recycled for other purposes? W. J. Stewart, Merchant Langdon, J.A. Langdon, and Sherrill Stephenson had new ponds. Ninety- one more were being surveyed (Dunn Dispatch June 16, 1947).
The new cannery was ready for the summer. It was Harnett County’s newest cannery open for public use. The clubs who helped raise money were the Coats Grange, Woman’s Club, Page Book Club and the Fellowship Club, the major backer. The clubs raised $1500.00 and the balance of $2000.00 was given by the Veteran’s Administration to help the veterans who were enrolled at the Coats Agriculture Department to save and preserve food. Did you ask, “Coats Grange?”?
The Coats cannery had very modern equipment with steam devices that could be controlled. The cannery contained blanching bins and workbenches for food preparation. Warren Ennis, WWII veteran, operated the cannery. The cannery was non-profit (Dunn Dispatch June 16, 1947).
Did Max Hayes Beasley also work there? Were there others? Who knows where the cannery was located in Coats and is it still standing or did it meet a slow demise? I do know that W.J. Sauls resigned from the Dunn Police Department to accept a position as Constable at Coats in Grove Township. Mr. Sauls came to Dunn from Coats and made an outstanding record as a member of the department. He followed A.L. Johnson as Constable of Coats (Dunn Dispatch June 16, 1947). Do we continue to have constables today—never hear that title used in 2013.
Harnett cotton growers were offered prizes for the most cotton grown on five acres. WOW! What was the prize? According to the paper the winner would receive $350.00. How did they keep it honest on the amount picked?
The grand opening of the First Citizens Bank and Trust was on July 1, 1947. Mr. B.F. Parrish, 90, was the first to make a deposit to Charlie Fields and Dwight Odum in the new Coats First Citizens. The Coats bank was the 25th branch of the First Citizens and Bank and Trust Company. One hundred citizens attended from practically every phase of community activity. W.E. Nichols was instrumental in securing the bank (Harnett County News July 3, 1947).
Vic Lee, manager of the Pope’s Department Store, was re-elected as Fellowship Club president; A.R. Byrd was vice president; Guy Stewart served as treasurer, and Owen Odum was reporter. Kress Williams was chairman of the executive board. Does that mean that he was Chairman of the Board of Directors? I do know that he became a retired colonel and obtained his law degree. He married Joe Penny’s daughter, Nell Penny, a former teacher at Coats and in the Atlanta area.
We once had a department store, jewelry store, hotel, theater, two cotton gins, two sawmills and dozens more businesses!! Time changes things but how reassuring it is to hear the wonderful comments that people make about Coats when they come to tour the museum and share it with friends from out of town.
Joanne Turlington told me that the Jimmie Ennis who was mentioned in an earlier column was known for making caskets and that she recalled visiting there once and saw him making a baby’s coffin. What a memory!
A big thank you goes to Bart Adams of the Daily Record for coming on board to help the museum folks meet our $50,000 challenge. None of the “Coats Museum News” that you have been reading for the last four years would have been possible without Mr. Adams allowing us to spend about three years in his paper’s library to research the events that happened in the Coats area. Patsy and Stacy Avery, Lynda and Robie Butler and Jeanette Johnson had already given very generous donations to the museum building fund .Now to help meet the challenge they have given large donations again. Thank these people for not only giving hours of free labor to the museum each week, but also for giving freely of their money to the museum. A big thank you goes to a family member for giving a large donation to honor the memory of Zelotis and Myrtle N. Coats and Wadeford and Mary H. Coats. We are also appreciative and excited to add Dunn Benson Ford’s Kemp Lamm’s name on the donor’s plaque in the new addition.
When you attended school, was your ride to school called a school truck or a school bus? I do know that in 1947 the HCBOE appropriated $2,700 to insure riders on the school buses (Dunn Dispatch June 2, 1947). We know part of the answer-they were called buses in 1947. Were the buses ever made mainly of wood? Was there a row of seats down the middle?
In 1947, Dr. Fred Fleming was occupying his new building located one block from the main highway. Do you know where that was? Was he originally located on Main Street? While the doctor was relocating, the 1947 Coats High seniors went on a sightseeing tour of Washington, D.C.(Dunn Dispatch June 5, 1947).Would it not be interesting to know what class was the first one to go to the nation’s capital city?
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Daniel and family had spent Sunday at White Lake. Eugene Stewart of Dunn had accepted a job at the Coats Motor Company. Was he a second generation car salesman? Mr. and Mrs. Dave House had made their home in Dunn. Ed Breeding had accepted a position at Beasley’s Barber Shop (Dunn Dispatch June 5, 1947).
How many of you know where the Beasley Barber Shop was located on Main Street in Coats? Did any of you get a shave, have your shoes shined or take a shower in the back rooms? Were men able to order a nice suit there? Better yet-how many of you are excited or aware that the former T.O. Beasley-(Fleetwood Adams) Barber Shop has been remodeled by our faithful museum volunteer, Eric Fann. He and his friends have put in a lot of time and expense to make it a nice place to once again be a place to get a haircut. Sorry-there will be no showers in the back rooms but the two rooms may be available to rent. Surely Mr. T.O. Beasley and the others would be proud that Eric has it returned to some of its roots. Several vintage pictures will be displayed in the shop when he has the grand opening on January 3 rd. Attend and be a part of the new history of Coats.
Harnett County was informed that it could not ban carnivals. The Joel H. Poole family could have cared less because they were dealing with his death on Route One, Coats. The 71 year-old- man had died at his home on Sunday. He was buried at the Williams Cemetery after a funeral service was held at his home. He was survived by his widow, Fannie Poole, and his children-Hiram, Moses, and Pearl ( Fleshman) Tart. R.A. Poole and Zennie Poole were his brothers and Mrs. Monroe Surles, Mrs. Tom Williams, Mrs. Minnie Winston, Mrs. Ed Dixon, Mrs. Frank Stone, and Mrs. Joe Stewart were her sisters. Pallbearers were Albert Regan, Woodrow Stewart, Nelson Stewart, Grand Stewart and Lentis Poole (Harnett County News June 12, 1947).
Harnett County had 330 teachers and 18 vocational teachers. There were 93 colored teachers and 2 Indian teachers. Coats had 25 of those teachers with 2 at Oakdale in 1947. The Harnett County also had 57 ponds completed. They were built under the Soil Conservation Service. The ponds served for watering stock, transplanting tobacco, watering plant beds, swimming, boating, fishing, and baptizing. Did they use them for washing the fertilizer out of the bags so the bags could be recycled for other purposes? W. J. Stewart, Merchant Langdon, J.A. Langdon, and Sherrill Stephenson had new ponds. Ninety- one more were being surveyed (Dunn Dispatch June 16, 1947).
The new cannery was ready for the summer. It was Harnett County’s newest cannery open for public use. The clubs who helped raise money were the Coats Grange, Woman’s Club, Page Book Club and the Fellowship Club, the major backer. The clubs raised $1500.00 and the balance of $2000.00 was given by the Veteran’s Administration to help the veterans who were enrolled at the Coats Agriculture Department to save and preserve food. Did you ask, “Coats Grange?”?
The Coats cannery had very modern equipment with steam devices that could be controlled. The cannery contained blanching bins and workbenches for food preparation. Warren Ennis, WWII veteran, operated the cannery. The cannery was non-profit (Dunn Dispatch June 16, 1947).
Did Max Hayes Beasley also work there? Were there others? Who knows where the cannery was located in Coats and is it still standing or did it meet a slow demise? I do know that W.J. Sauls resigned from the Dunn Police Department to accept a position as Constable at Coats in Grove Township. Mr. Sauls came to Dunn from Coats and made an outstanding record as a member of the department. He followed A.L. Johnson as Constable of Coats (Dunn Dispatch June 16, 1947). Do we continue to have constables today—never hear that title used in 2013.
Harnett cotton growers were offered prizes for the most cotton grown on five acres. WOW! What was the prize? According to the paper the winner would receive $350.00. How did they keep it honest on the amount picked?
The grand opening of the First Citizens Bank and Trust was on July 1, 1947. Mr. B.F. Parrish, 90, was the first to make a deposit to Charlie Fields and Dwight Odum in the new Coats First Citizens. The Coats bank was the 25th branch of the First Citizens and Bank and Trust Company. One hundred citizens attended from practically every phase of community activity. W.E. Nichols was instrumental in securing the bank (Harnett County News July 3, 1947).
Vic Lee, manager of the Pope’s Department Store, was re-elected as Fellowship Club president; A.R. Byrd was vice president; Guy Stewart served as treasurer, and Owen Odum was reporter. Kress Williams was chairman of the executive board. Does that mean that he was Chairman of the Board of Directors? I do know that he became a retired colonel and obtained his law degree. He married Joe Penny’s daughter, Nell Penny, a former teacher at Coats and in the Atlanta area.
We once had a department store, jewelry store, hotel, theater, two cotton gins, two sawmills and dozens more businesses!! Time changes things but how reassuring it is to hear the wonderful comments that people make about Coats when they come to tour the museum and share it with friends from out of town.
Joanne Turlington told me that the Jimmie Ennis who was mentioned in an earlier column was known for making caskets and that she recalled visiting there once and saw him making a baby’s coffin. What a memory!
A big thank you goes to Bart Adams of the Daily Record for coming on board to help the museum folks meet our $50,000 challenge. None of the “Coats Museum News” that you have been reading for the last four years would have been possible without Mr. Adams allowing us to spend about three years in his paper’s library to research the events that happened in the Coats area. Patsy and Stacy Avery, Lynda and Robie Butler and Jeanette Johnson had already given very generous donations to the museum building fund .Now to help meet the challenge they have given large donations again. Thank these people for not only giving hours of free labor to the museum each week, but also for giving freely of their money to the museum. A big thank you goes to a family member for giving a large donation to honor the memory of Zelotis and Myrtle N. Coats and Wadeford and Mary H. Coats. We are also appreciative and excited to add Dunn Benson Ford’s Kemp Lamm’s name on the donor’s plaque in the new addition.
