At 13th and D, There Was a Drugstore Where Blacks Couldn't Sit at the Bar

By Chester W. Hunter, 1310 Emerald St. NE

Mr. Hunter, 70, who has lived on Emerald since he was 11, responds to something the Rev. Clay mentioned in last week's issue. Rev. Clay said he thought that the building on the northwest corner of 13th and D used to be a cleaner's.

There's never been a cleaner's on the corner of 13th and D. That was a drugstore. It had a soda fountain in it. We could go there and get sodas - ice cream and stuff - but we couldn't sit at the bar.

Why not?

You don't know about segregation?

So you're saying because you're black, you couldn't sit at the bar?

You couldn't sit there. Man, this was the most segregated city I ever seen in my whole life, at one time.

That was where the church is, now?

Where the church is. Rev. Clay said he thought it was a cleaners. It's never been a cleaners. And those two stores up there? One was a Safeway, and one was an A&P. Where the liquor store is? That used to be a Safeway. And next door to it, where N-A Minit is - that used to be an A&P.

How could they fit a whole big supermarket in there?

It extended all the way back. They were small stores at that time. Then Safeway built a store on D Street, where Kingsman park is now. They had a store there. And during the riots, they burned it down. §