THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 16, 1997 TAG: 9702160067
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 141 lines
Elisha Overton was among the most respected masons in Elizabeth City near the turn of the century.
Overton, along with fellow African-Americans, erected houses and churches and businesses that have stood the test of time.
But, until this month, it didn't look like Overton's own historic home would do the same.
The dark gray, white-trimmed wooden Victorian at Speed and South Road streets has fallen victim to neglect, and its owner, an elderly woman, is unable to keep up with repairs.
Whenever Hattie Spellman, 85, and her granddaughter cleaned up the yard, others would trash it.
The predominantly black neighborhood, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993, has become a haven for drug dealing.
``Because of the drug paraphernalia in the neighborhood, people would just throw stuff down rather than finding a trash can,'' said Cynthia Griffin, who moved into the house to help care for her grandmother.
Earlier this year the state of disrepair reached the point of condemnation, and the city served notice that the Elisha Overton House, built around 1880, will be taken down if it is not brought up to code by April 1.
Rather than succumb to the same fate as residents of other substandard structures on the street, Griffin and her grandmother chose to fight the pending demolition. In the process, they're arousing interest in an area that would appear to have been forgotten.
``It's over a hundred years old, and it's a piece of black history,'' said Griffin of her grandmother's house. ``The black communities need to be built up, not torn down.
``People are more important than things, and I'm concerned about people, too. But they're tearing down the old neighborhoods. The people need to be changed - their minds, their mentality.''
Residents and the city's historic preservation committee persuaded the city to reverse its decision and extended the deadline for repairs to the Overton House. No new deadline has been set.
``We don't want the house removed,'' said City Manager Steven Harrell. ``It's simply a matter of the house no longer meeting the minimum building codes.''
Two other buildings on the block recently were condemned by the city. The old Walston Funeral Home was torn down, and the old Sundry building is slated for demolition.
But if the turnout at a recent organizational meeting is any indication, the Overton House - and Hattie Spellman - will stay.
Some 25 people, black and white, attended an informal gathering at the Pasquotank-Camden Library one warm Saturday morning to discuss saving the house.
Contractors C.L. White of South Mills and Troy Jackson of Elizabeth City volunteered their services.
Members of the Elizabeth City Neighborhood Historic Association, the Elizabeth City State University Community Development Corporation, River City Community Development Corporation and the Pasquotank County Extension Office also were interested in preserving the building.
Habitat for Humanity, which has built new homes in the area, has offered guidance.
Roosevelt Ruben Wright Sr., who lives two block from Spellman, also attended the meeting.
``I knew a lot of Elisha Overton's ancestors. The late George Overton and I sang together in the church choir, and I remember him telling me about the things his grandfather had done,'' Wright said.
Elisha Overton build Mount Lebanon A.M.E. Zion Church on Culpepper St., where Wright is a church historian, among his other titles.
``He was the big man,'' Wright, 77, said of Overton, who was a trustee on the church board. Overton also was chief of the all-black volunteer fire department.
Wright, who has lived on Road Street since 1945, believes the neighborhood took a turn for the worse when the original home owners began to pass on and absentee property owners took over.
The Shepard Street-South Road Street Historic District, where the Overton House sits, is considered Elizabeth City's first suburb and was annexed into city limits in 1851.
Originally a predominantly white residential area, newly freed blacks began to settle in the 1870s and 1880s. The State Colored Normal School formed in the 1890s, solidifying the emerging black neighborhoods within a 14-block area.
The creation of several churches and the town's first school for black children also accounts for the district's place in local history.
The State Colored Normal School, later to become Elizabeth City State University, was the centerpiece of a prosperous, thriving black middle class. The campus moved from Herrington Street to its present location on Parkview Street in 1912.
Elisha Overton died in 1911 in the Eastlake-styled home he built for his family. His wife, the former Virginia Lane, was the daughter of the city's leading black carpenter, Whitmel Lane.
She died in 1951 and the home changed hands several times before being bought by James and Hattie Spellman about 20 years ago.
The community outpouring to help save the Overton House has heartened Griffin, a shy woman who is still uncomfortable being called a community activist.
``I'm glad to see that people are pulling together. It touches my heart to see because I was worried that maybe I was asking too much of people,'' she said.
Her grandmother, when asked what she thought of all the attention, said, simply, ``It's OK.'' Griffin, though, says her grandmother is happier than she lets on.
Spellman, a retired cook, and her husband, James, screened in the porch and put up a short chain-linked fence before James, a retired math teacher, died.
After that, it became difficult for Hattie Spellman to keep up the house, and Griffin moved in to help. But she, too, became overwhelmed with the structural problems.
Griffin said it will take about $20,000 in materials and labor to bring the house up to code. The roof must be replaced, the entire house rewired and all of the plumbing upgraded. Sheetrock will be needed, too.
She's working day and night to find volunteers, and her efforts are paying off. People and local businesses are calling regularly with donations.
``I'm very proud of her,'' Spellman said of her granddaughter.
Now that the house's future seems brighter, Griffin wants to help do more for her neighbors and has organized a community program for 11 a.m. Saturday, at the corner of Road and Speed streets. In the event of rain, the gathering may be held at Mount Trinity Community Church down the street.
The program is being put together by Griffin, Councilwoman Myrtle Rivers and Elizabeth City Downtown's Peggy Langley.
Chief of Police Michael Lloyd will speak about crime and the growing police presence in the crime-prone community.
Extension agent Tom Campbell will offer advice on pruning.
Clergymen have been invited to speak, and Virginia gospel singer Donnie Smalls, who has yet to confirm, has been asked to attend.
Plans were still being finalized, but Griffin and other organizers are hoping a good turnout will help turn around what was once a premier part of Elizabeth City.
If nothing else, it should continue focusing attention on a part of Elizabeth City's history that at least one longtime resident believes has been overlooked.
``I'm glad that the city did bring attention to this,'' Wright said. ``I hope that we can save it.
``And I hope that it will teach people that when a structure doesn't meet the code, it doesn't always mean you have to tear it down.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Hattie Spellman stands in front of her house, built by respected
mason Elisha Overton more than 100 years ago, in Elizabeth City. The
city has delayed a decision to demolish the home, giving Spellman
more time to bring it up to code. The community is chipping in with
donated time and material to help Spellman.