January 19, 1924

Journal and Guide

"SYNDICATE WILL REDUCE PRICES IN TRUXTUN HOMES
$10,000 To Be Spent Immediately For Repainting of All of The Houses; 105 Houses To Go On Market
NOTIFIED THAT BID IS FORMALLY ACCEPTED"

Information has been received by Messers, W. H. C. Brown, of Newport News and Norfolk, Dr. A. J. Strong, vice president, and treasurer of the Metropolitan Bank, Norfolk and Dr. Norman Lassiter, of Hampton, that their bid tendered last week to the United States government for the purchase of the entire town of Truxtun, at a figure said to be around $141,000, has been accepted.

Although not specifically stated by either of the men concerned, it is generally believed here and in Washington, that nothing stands in the way of a full consummation of the deal except a few necessary formalities attendant upon such transactions.

The town of Truxtun, situated on a fine hard surfaced highway about a mile south of Portsmouth city, was built by the United States Housing Corporation as a war time project, specifically for the housing of colored government workers, employed in the Norfolk Navy Yard and other nearby war time industries. It is comprised of 253 five and ten-room houses. The former being one-family homes and the latter designed for two-families. There are of modern structure and equipped with sanitary improvements, such as electric lights, bath spacious lawns, back yards and indestructible galvanized wire fences.

There are about 70 acres of land suitable for building lots included in the project. Flowers and shrubbery decorate the lawns and sidewalks on every street. It is considered one of the most beautiful spots in Tidewater section.

The new purchasers will at once reduce the government purchase price from $1900 to $2600 by 25 percent to the home buyers already on the property. All of the 105 unsold houses will immediately be placed on the market on the basis of the same reductions. The payment on these homes will not exceed one per cent a month. They have also arranged at a cost of about $10,000 to paint all the houses constituting the town.

The action of this syndicate of investors constitutes the biggest piece of financing done by colored men in this section since the war, and is considered to be a most encouraging sign of renewed economic activity by the colored people of Tidewater.