1415 Poole Rd
Raleigh, NC, USA

National Register of Historic Places - William A. Curtis House

Statement of Significance:

The William A. Curtis House, 1415 Poole Road, built about 1915, has local architectural significance under Criterion C as one of the largest and most stylish dwellings built for an African American family in Raleigh during the Jim Crow era of the early twentieth century. Built in the Lincoln Park subdivision along New Bern Avenue by William A. Curtis, his mother, and seven siblings as a family home, the two-story Late Victorian house with bay windows, leaded glass transoms, and a spacious wraparound porch with classical columns is a landmark in southeast Raleigh. Following the death of William H. Curtis in 1905, his widow Jennie Curtis and her three older children, Lafayette, Mary, and William A., rallied to support the five younger children. Through his work as a drayman, as vendor at a produce stand at the City Market, and at a south Raleigh laundry, William A. Curtis and his family erected a spacious, beautiful house that served as the family home for three generations. Its period of significance is ca. 1915, the year of construction.