Five Points & My Old Neighborhood During The 1950s and 1960s

Five Points - a name that is familiar in different parts of the country and the state. Here in Raleigh, there is a Five Points. When I lived in Jacksonville, Fl. there was a section named Five Points. So, Rockingham was and is in good company with the familiar Five Points. If you don't know, here are the Five Points, literally: if you stand in the middle of Five Points right now facing Rockingham, you would have N. Lee St, that goes to Pee Dee and then on to Rockingham, then Hwy 74 - one point going to Rockingham and the other towards Wadesboro and Charlotte, then Cartledge Creek Rd (formerly Prison Camp Rd), and then Old Ellerbe Rd (formerly Highway 220), that goes to Ellerbe. There you go - Five Points, from yesteryear. Big difference now in 2010 compared to then, the 1950s-1960s. Sad to see so many of our favorite places have disappeared: Seagos Restaurant, Five Points Grocery (Homer "Dynamite" Benoist), Five Points Barbershop (John Heavner), Pate's Esso (Frank Pate), etc. I guess you could say it is now a "ghost town" compared to how active it was when I was growing up. But, the memories I have will never be erased. That is why I am writing about the place I used to live - to help keep it's memory alive.

When I was a kid, Five Points was our hangout simply because it was so close to where I lived. Coming out of Five Points, if you took Highway 220(at the time but now it is Old Ellerbe Rd), that would take you straight to my house. Maybe a half mile down the road.

As you left Five Points, you would pass Lassiters BarBQue on the left, with a nice open area that served us well as a ballfield. On down at the bottom of the hill, on the right, was Homer (Dynamite) Benoist's house with the pond out front. Up the hill on the left was a body shop and on the right was the Jenkins home. That is where some of my best friends lived - their parents Damon and Elizabeth Jenkins, both deceased now, Woody, Jenny Sue and Jerry, their kids. Right beside them lived the Gardners. Across the street lived Eddie and Minnie Ellen Morse. There was a school bus-stop located right up from their home that all the neighborhood kids would flock to in the mornings. You don't see those anymore but they surely helped when you had rain or snow.

Right after you passed the Morses home, there was a cut-through road from Old Ellerbe Rd up to the Prison Camp Road (later that name changed to Cartledge Creek Rd). At the corner of this intersection to the left was my cousins, the Heavners. Uncle Frank, Aunt Ruby, children Brenda, Rachel, Frankie, Judy and Jeffrey. That house is long gone now but we had some great times there. They had china berry trees in their backyard that made for some good throwing games and a big swing we used quite a bit. Plus, they had a pumphouse we used to love to climb onto and jump off. As of today, 2010, Beverly Hills Baptist Church sets on that lot plus the lot that Mike Key and his family used to live on. And, if you took that road up to the Prison Camp Road, there were more friends that lived there. Back to the left friend Billy Maples lived, and on down old Hwy 74 lived Guy Trexler, Danny Jenkins and Benji Alexander, then in the other direction lived the Postons, then Harold and Johnny Webb and down from there Sonny Swails. I consider all these guys childhood friends that I will always remember.

Now, as you headed on down Old Ellerbe Rd after the Heavners house, there was a little shop on the right. This shop changed hands so many times over the years, I can't remember. But I do remember at one time my Grandpa Heavner had a car repair shop there, plus, my brother Gary and cousin Jimmy Heavner had a teen club there called the H & B Recreation Center. Doubt anyone will remember that one but I remember it as a local hangout for the neighborhood guys and gals.

Across from that was a store called Smith's Store. Another hangout for the neighborhood kids. This was owned by Grady Smith. His children were Kay, Daphne, Bubba (Deloris) and Pally. All of these were good friends during those years.

Next to that store on the left was the Brigman family. Mr and Mrs Brigman, Jimmy, Minnie, Helen and Walter. The Brigmans were a carpenter family and always had gardens. Nice neighbors.

After the Brigman's home, there was a wooded lot - this was right before you got to my house. That lot was a playground for all the kids in our neighborhood. That is where I shot my friend Murphy Comer right between the eyes with an air rifle. Of course, it was supposed to be empty! Don't we do some stupid things when we are kids? That same lot served as a back to the future type event of paint ball shootouts - but we used real air rifles. I remember we would put on our jackets backwards and thought we would get more protection from the BBs. Then we would all chase each other using real BBs as ammo. I don't remember anyone ever getting shot or wounded badly so I guess we came through those events in pretty good shape. Just another example of the antics of young boys trying innovation to try something new.

Like I said, my house was below this lot on the left. It was an old two-story house with now famous asbestos white shingles on the outside. If you check out this link from my previous website, Rockingham Remembered, you will see some of these old photos: My Old Homeplace.This old house is not there anymore since dad demolished most of it except some of the framework to build a new house in the same location. That house still stands today and my brother Keith lives there now, since my mom stays at Hermitage and has dementia.

Across the street during my childhood was an empty lot, now occupied by a trailer park. Dad used that lot later when he started Security Fence Co. Right below there was the Pankey house. Mr and Mrs J.D. Pankey lived there. I am not sure but it seems they had 2 sons and one was named Raymond. I remember that name because he favored Elvis. Later, I believe after Mrs Pankey passed away, J.D. married again and his second wife had 2 girls, Sandra and Mary Stanley. Of course, this meant more friends in the neighborhood.

Down below my house on the left was the Comers. With an empty lot between our homes, which was used for playing basketball, baseball, etc., this was another location for the neighborhood to try their skills at anything that would keep us busy.

Marcus, Murphy and Anne Comer - childhood friends that I will never forget. Many of my childhood adventures included these guys. Marcus and I stealing his mom's F85 for a joyride - setting the woods on fire beside their house and having the Fire Dept come out to put it out - Murphy being the recipient of an air rifle shot between the eyes. And their little dog, I can't remember his name but I do remember it was a chihauhau and that was the most vicious little dog I can remember growing up. Snapping at your feet continuosly.

It is amazing how some things stick in your mind from your childhood. Like the Comers. I remember when their dad, Dudley Comer, died. I was about 6 years old but I remember all these cars in their yard and being a kid like I was, for some reason, I thought maybe they had killed a big snake and everybody had come to look. Talking about dumb memories, this is a good one.

I never remember talking to my buddies about their dad, all I knew was that their mom, Emily Williams Comer, raised them and did a heck of a job. She was a nice lady and another neighborhood mom that would always invite us over for cookies and milk.

As of today, Mrs Comer is at Britthaven in Hamlet and the house has been sold, just as most homes in the old neighborhood have different occupants from the time I was a child. I just visited her a few weeks ago and was glad to see her. She kept repeating the phrase "oh happy days". Yes, those days long ago were indeed "happy days". This link will show you Mrs Comer and my mom back in 2001, when I took my mom to visit her: Former First Ladies of Old Ellerbe Road.

Below the Comers on that side of the road was an open lot until later when John McCuistion came and built his house there. John was the owner of Rockingham Roofing Co, now named McCuistion Roofing Co. and I believe his son Dave runs the company now.
John had a swimming pool and we loved going swimming there. My dad helped put the fence up around the pool. John also had a daughter and her name was Linda.

Down below the McCuistions lived the Hutchinsons. I remember they raised chickens and we could always go down and get eggs. They were another nice couple in our neighborhood.

I got a little ahead of myself with the houses order. Below the Pankeys on the right side of the road, was a long, dirt road that went up the hill to the right. When I was a kid, this is where the Smiths lived. I mentioned their names a few paragraphs ago and their dad ran Smith's store in the neighborhood. One thing I remember is that Grady Smith had a sharp '57 Buick. It was a knockout. Plus, he loved his chewing tobacco and could make it look sooooo good chewing, you would think he was chewing bubble gum.

After the Smiths moved away, the Dillmans moved in. Paul Dillman and his family, Paul Jr that is now married to Pam Nettles Dillman, Councilwoman in Rockingham, Marie, sad to say now deceased, Ann, married to Rick McNeely, and a little brother but I can't remember his name. Paul was a good friend during those years and I still consider him a good friend.

Below the Dillmans on that side of the street, after where the McCuiston Roofing Co is now, was the Traylors - in the yellow house. Bruce and his wife and their daughter Carol. She was another good friend years ago and seems at one time my brother, Randy, had a regular thing going on with her. Of course, she is married now and I haven't seen her in a few years.

Right next to the Traylors lived the Hewitts - to start with. They moved from that house and built one right below it. Mark and Jeffrey Hewitt, another pair of great childhood friends, lived in those homes. After they moved down below to their new home, the Maskes moved in the other house. They had a great big front yard for everyone to play ball in. Debra Maske Price (now married to Don Price) and her brother Greg lived there. They made up part of the neighborhood also. The front bank of that house was always covered in kudzu vine but it made a great hill to slide down when it snowed.

This pretty much made up my neighborhood when I was a kid. There are two sad notes to add to the ending of this story. My street, Old Ellerbe Rd, as I have said earlier, used to be Highway 220, before the bypass. Cars would fly up and down that road because it was the main highway. When my brother Keith was around 10 years old, he got hit by a car right in front of our house, crossing the street to our grandmother's house. That was a terrible day but he made it through, thanks to my Aunt Mary Heavner, whom was a nurse on duty at the hospital the day it happened. When Keith was laying on the hospital emergency bed, he was swallowing blood. Aunt Mary had the good sense to turn him on his side to keep him from choking that might have saved his life. The second sad note here is that one of my childhood friends, Guy Trexler, lost his life on that stretch of road. At the time, there was a bad curve at the bottom of the hill past the Hewitts house and Guy, Rick McNeely and Frank Hawkins were riding in Guy's car and it wrecked on that curve. Frank and Rick made it out but Guy did not. That was a sad day in Rockingham and I remember praying for Guy to make it through. Tom & Sarahs was full of fellow classmates doing the same thing. But it was not to be.

I hope this story has not been too boring. But I will chalk it up as just another one of my stories of growing up in Rockingham, North Carolina - a small textile town in the South in the 50s' and 60s'.