Offices coming to site once termed “best place to eat and sleep between Tappahannock and Saluda”
by Larry Chowning –
The Middlesex County Board of Supervisors (MCBS) approved a special exception request by Charles T. Langford on behalf of CTLM Properties LLC to allow a construction yard and office facility on 2.354 acres in Low Density Rural and Village Community zones. The old Oliver’s Restaurant and Texaco Station building is being refurbished for offices as part of the project.
Oliver’s Restaurant
Bessida Cauthorne White of the Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society provided the Sentinel with some historical information on the late Oliver Lewis, the Oliver in Oliver’s Restaurant.
Oliver Lewis was born in 1912 and died in 1967. He was a World War II veteran and is buried in the cemetery at Metropolitan Baptist Church near Royal Oaks, today referred to as the Water View area of Middlesex.
During the 1940 census, he was living in Brooklyn, New York, and working as a doorman in a factory. His brother was living with him and working as a cook in a restaurant. Lewis was in the military from 1942 to 1946. By the 1950 census, Oliver and his wife Lucille were running a restaurant in the upper end of Middlesex County.
Oliver’s Restaurant was listed in the historic “Green Book” for African-American travelers.
“The Architecture of The Negro Travelers” was a travel guide for Blacks providing information on where they were welcome during the era of segregation. Oliver’s Restaurant and Texaco Station/Motel was listed in the Green Book from 1961 to 1967…
There's more to this story...
Are you a subscriber? Log in
Many more news articles, photos and ads are available only to those who subscribe to our printed newspaper or our online e-Edition.
Pick up a copy or Subscribe today!
| e-Edition | Printed version |
For assistance, call 804-758-2328.
