Black-owned businesses, culture thrived in Rome
Before, during and after segregation:
While North Rome’s Five Points was considered a Black business Mecca up until the 1970s, it wasn’t the only business and cultural center for Rome’s Black population.
“There was a lot of local business in Five Points, but it was not the only side of town that had a local (Black-owned) business cluster,” local historian Rufus Turner said.
As part of his life’s passion, Turner has collected and chronicled the history of Rome’s Black communities throughout the years. Even more so, he’s lived it.
Growing up in the 1940s on the Maple Avenue corridor, Turner recalled a thriving business district. Thinking back to the days of his youth, he described a grocery story at East 13th Street before Maple Street was even paved.
The family store expanded as the owner’s sons grew, adding a real estate business and restaurant as the sons took over. Next to that was Mitchell’s Barber Shop.
“In the 1940s, that’s where I went to get my hair cut,” Turner said. It had been there for years before he was around, and later the owner, Eugene Mitchell, became a pastor.
Across the street was a pool hall managed by a man who Turner recalled as Mr. Shorty; nearby was a service station at 1210 Maple St. owned and operated by Charles “Banty” Jones.
That service station wasn’t just a place to get gas, it was a cultural center. Jones was a businessman and a person who cared deeply for his community.
Helping to organize a push to allow Blacks to vote in the Whitesonly primary, Jones promoted the
Banty’s interest in and concern for young people served to broaden their horizons and enlarge their dreams.”
need to participate in the election process as well as perform civic duties.
In 1948, Jones organized the
Colored School Boy Patrol to ensure that children were able to safely cross the street. He went to the state Capitol and met with
Gov. Herman Talmadge, who made the necessary contacts to push the project into reality, Morrell Johnson Darko wrote in her book “The Rivers Meet: A history of African-Americans in Rome, Georgia.”
“Banty’s interest in and concern for young people served to broaden their horizons and enlarge their dreams,” Darko wrote. Several years ago, Crane Street Park was renamed Banty Jones Park in honor of his service to the community as a whole.
Most people owned their own homes in that area, Turner said, and a business district ran from East 10th Street as far as East 17th Street — and it wasn’t the only one.
“Every side of town had a school, church and businesses,” Turner said.
From the significant roles of churches that served Rome’s Black community to movie theaters like The Carver, The Metropolitan and The Romeo — which later became The Georgian in Five Points — to the Little Joker Café in West Rome, the community flourished.
Morrell Johnson Darko wrote in her book
“The Rivers Meet: A history of African-Americans in Rome, Georgia”
Hardy Avenue in South Rome had a cluster of mom and pop grocery stores as well as restaurants and an American Legion, founded in 1947. At 13 Forest St., the O.W. Curtis Funeral Home was owned and operated by O.W. and Ella Collier Curtis.
They ran one of the first mortuaries for Rome’s Black population. Like many businesses, they also taught the trade to others and that led to other businesses opening in the area.
“They hired a young man, Charles Lynn, to work for them and taught him the business,” Darko wrote. “Later he studied mortuary science and returned to start his own business.” His funeral home was located at 333 Branham Ave. in South Rome.
Some of those businesses, like Wright Memorial Mortuary at 814 South Broad St., continue to this day.
“Rome was unique; it had its bad times as far as race relations were concerned, but it was not as bad as other places in Georgia,” Turner said. “All together, it has been a pretty good place to live.”