BoothieBarn

[Rsmyth]

Just a little teaser. You won't want to miss the next installment of Dave Taylor's BoothieBarn. It is sure to provide new info!

[Dave Taylor]

Thanks for the advertising, Rich. I spent the whole weekend researching and typing away on a post that has proven to be my longest yet. It's at twelve pages so far and I'm still not done. I'm hoping to have it finished tonight but you all might not see it up until tomorrow night.

Essentially, it's a pieced together biography about an often forgotten Booth family member.

[L Verge]

If you have not read this latest posting on BoothieBarn, please do so. Very well done.

[BettyO]

I agree, Laurie!

Dave is a master sleuth, researcher and writer.....very, very well done - don't miss BoothieBarn!

[Dave Taylor]

Thanks you guys. During the school year, I very rarely get the chance to do some thorough research like this. It's so much fun though. After Carolyn Mitchell over at the Spirits of Tudor Hall Facebook page asked me if she could get a copy of Rosalie's letter, I wanted to see if I could give her something better. I'm confident that I did.

You're all the best!

[RJNorton]

Yesterday Betty posted a rare photo of the remodeling of the Surratt boardinghouse. Dave has another old one without the steps here.

[L Verge]

The door to the right on sidewalk level is still there, but not "available" to the public. The entrance to the current Wok 'n Roll restaurant is now on the left side of the sidewalk level.

Betty will agree with me when I say that many times a group of us Surratt "ladies" (aka Boothies) dared each other to try and sneak in the forbidden door and dash upstairs to see what was in the rooms. When we first got curious, the downstairs was a Chinese grocery story. We were sure that the upstairs was either an opium den or headquarters for a numbers running gang. We never did find out. At one point in its history, however, the old boardinghouse was raided by federal agents - for both Prohibition violations and again as part of the numbers racket, if my memory serves me correctly.

Back in the 1980s, during one of the building's transformations, a member of our crew of Boothies did get permission to go inside; but, of course, all rooms were vacant. He reported that much of the moulding, doors, and door knobs appeared original. The gentleman's name was Harold Wang, and the only way he got inside was through a phone call to the Chinese doctor who then owned the building. Not being able to see Mr. Wang, he gave permission - assuming that he was speaking to a fellow Chinese. Mr. Wang, however, is Norwegian. The permission was still granted.