J.W. Brooks Building

Those listed on the plaque include W. J. Wilkins, an architect credited with designing some of Wilmington’s most recognizable structures. Originally working in Florence, South Carolina, Wilkins moved down to Wilmington with a partnership with Joseph F. Leitner to design and build useful commercial buildings. While in Wilmington, he also partnered with another architect named Leslie Norwood Boney Sr., who specialized in designing and building schools. Together, Boney and Wilkins designed and built New Hanover County High School.¹  During his career, Wilkins faced a rumor that he had been practicing agriculture without a certificate at the NC Board of Architecture on January 27th, 1920. Although Wilkins was made to take up this dilemma with the Board Secretary, no further action was reported, and Wilkins was eventually licensed without issue.²  The building originally began as a fish market, hence the convenient placement next to the waterfront. Fishermen would sell the fish they caught there in wagons and in the building on Water Street.³

When the building came into the ownership of John Wesley Brooks, and was given the name J.W. Brooks Building, the site became a warehouse for his wholesale grocery business. Brooks purchased the property in two pieces, the first in 1903 and the second in 1910. The renovations done to create the formal J.W. Brooks Building occurred in 1920.⁴  Brooks did well with his original business, Brooks & Taylor, founded on January 1st, 1899, but sought his own grocery business. Brooks’s own specialty brand flour called “Belle of Wilmington '' sold well under his leadership. Under the commission business, Brooks received and sold products such as cotton, turpentine, and rosin. Brooks also owned many ships which traveled along the Cape Fear and Black Rivers between Wilmington and Seaside, NC. Brooks was heavily involved in the development of Wilmington, acting as one of the Executive Committee members of the Chamber of Commerce for Wilmington as well as the president of Cape Fear Oil Co., Wilmington Produce Co., and in 1912, the president of the Citizens Bank, of Shallotte NC.⁵  Not much is known of Brooks’s wife, Rosa Jenrette, other than she and their son-in-law, Norward Orrill took over the wholesale grocery business after Brooks’s death in 1937.⁶  Brooks and Rosa had two daughters named Thelma Brooks and Mamie Orrill, but much about their lives is not well-documented.⁷  It is known that Brooks’s company, Brooks Cash Grocery Company, operated until 1978, 41 years after his death. 

Among those not included in the plaque, Norward Orrill is the most noticeable, as he and Rosa took over ownership of the building together after Brooks’s death. The inclusion of his son-in-law’s involvement in business gives the inclination to assume that, although the building belonged to Brooks’s wife, she needed her son-in-law’s assistance to hold ownership and keep it running. This is because, in 1937, women were required to have a male relative as their co-signer on business loans and ownership. The inclusion of this information would’ve given Rosa more agency outside of being Brook’s wife and also acknowledged Orrill’s contribution, even if not much is known about them besides this transference of ownership. The building also has had many other owners not mentioned. The building was renovated in 1998 to include storefronts, event venues, and multiple apartment units. One of the owners of these apartment units is Ted Gosstyla, who moved into the building in November of 2010.⁸  The renovations to make the J.W Brooks building part of the apartment complex were done by Wilmington developers Gene Merritt and Gene Strader.⁹  Given that Merritt and Strader fundamentally changed how the J.W Brooks building could be used, it would be fitting for them to be mentioned on the plaque for the building. It is also because of their renovations that there is an extension of the Riverwalk on the water side of the building, meaning the J.W Brooks building is more accessible to get into and around. In the Wilmington Morning Star, Merritt claims that through this reconstruction of the J.W Brooks building, he has revitalized a part of Wilmington that was once considered ‘skid row,’ contributing to the city’s development and tourism.¹⁰ 

The previous business that took place in the building that was mentioned before was a fish market with an unknown owner and the Brooks Cash Grocery Company run by the Brooks family. Other businesses that are currently taking place inside the building include Gelarto, an art-themed gelato shop, and The River Room, a venue for weddings in Wilmington.¹¹  The condos built inside this building typically consist of two to three bathrooms and two to three and a half bathrooms.¹²  These condos offer the exposed brick walls of the original structure, hardwood floors, spacious rooms, a perfect view of the Cape Fear River and a connection to a historic part of Wilmington. What once was the warehouse of one man’s business has become a place of business for many different companies and even a home to many different people. The historic plaque committee should consider rewriting the plaque to include more notable people and change the date of the building's construction. One of the building's signs on a column claims the building was originally built in 1899, just as The River Room site has also stated. But, on the historic plaque and other sources, the general consensus is that the building was built in 1920 when it was actually remodeled and purchased by the man who gave the building its name. Brooks’s family, even including his son-in-law who helped take over his business, have very little information known about them, with only the 1920 census records providing their names. If the contradicting information could be officially amended and if more could be found about the transfer of ownership from J.W Brooks to his wife and son-in-law, then the historic plaque of the J.W Brooks Building would have more accurate historical info and expand what the public knows about the building’s history. 

Audrey Ross