OURHAMLET.ORG

This is obviously a shot of the Seaboard Hotel with the terminal in the background, post-1900. I have no idea of its date and cannot recall when the Hotel was razed. Any ideas? My great grandfather, Walter N. Cosby, came to Hamlet in 1900 with his family and was an engineer on the RR. His son, my grandfather, Walter N. "Dick" Cosby, Sr., lived in Hamlet his entire life and flagged on the Seaboard AL and CL. These images passed down from him. Can anyone tell what the large pole in the center of the image is? A marker of some type or just a gas light for the area? Thanks, Wayne Cosby

This is a Frank Marchant picture taken in 1910. As for the post,
my guess is that it was a gas light.

Thanks Malcolm. I had not seen this one in the Marchant images at UNC. As you can see, this one was rather folded, etc. and not in the best of shape. Thanks for identifying the date. I have more than a few of the Marchant images but saw no need to put them on this forum as I suppose everyone here has already seen them here, on Flickr or has the books that includes them. Regards,Wayne

On the subject of the Cosbys, when mom, dad, and I lived on Spring Street in the 1960's, our back yard adjoined theirs. They lived on Wilmington Street and I recall Mrs. Cosby having a beautiful back yard and rose garden. There is a picture my mother took of myself and the granddaughter of Mrs. Irene Harris (Bill Harris' grandmother) when she came to visit and we snuck over into Mrs. Cosby's yard. At some point in the mid 60's, Mr. and Mrs. Cosby built a new brick house in Hamlet and I remember Daddy and I riding over in the Studebaker to take a look at it.

I remember Mr. Cosby drove a green '64 Chevrolet Bel-Air sedan and it was one of the first cars I ever rode in that was air-conditioned. Funny how I can remember things like this.

Wonderful people, the Cosbys....

Bill Sapp

Mr. Sapp - Thank you for the kind words about my grandparents. I spent many a happy day in that house and yard all through the 50's and 60's. Yes she loved her roses. That 64 Belaire was only the 2d car he had ever owned and the first with A/C. Yes they built a home over on Stacy Ave in the late 60's or so. I recall your house but don't know if we ever met as children. I have many good memories of Hamlet and riding trains with my grandfather. Some of the things that stick out in my mind but don't see folks here mentioning are places like Stegalls barber shop on Main St. Loved to go there and he would sharpen that straight razor on the leather strop and would scare the devil out of me. I loved visiting Bradshaws Fish market with my grandmother or watching the bottles work their way through the assembly line at that bottling plant on Hamlet Ave. I loved waiting for my grandfathers train to come in at the station and they would stack up two west bounds at the crossing in favor of a southbound. Just a lot of memories. I loved going to American Legion ball games, or walking across the wooden bridge on Marlboro St. I can still recall the mountains of coal along the north to west curved transition that bordered Front St. And the many diesel pumps that were just north of the station. The station was its own playground with the tunnels, the news stand etc. I guess if you lived there it wasn't necessarily exciting but to the part-timer, it was a great and exciting place to be for a child and young man. Bill I guess we remember those things because they made impressions on us as young people. I still love coming back. Wayne Cosby