Census Sunday: The Bashams

Rosalind Mae Rucker

In 1940, my maternal grandmother’s sister Rosalind Mae Rucker Basham was living in Roanoke, Virginia.  She and her husband Larry Dalton Basham owned their Round Hill Avenue home valued at $5000.  Dalton, who had completed eight years of school, was working as a mechanic in the rayon mill.  He was fully employed the previous year earning $1820, which equates to roughly $29,998 today.  He worked 40 hours the last week of March just prior to the start of the census.

Rosalind (spelled Rosalynd in the census) had graduated from high school.  She was a homemaker raising two daughters, Janet (10) and Gloria (6).

Click to enlarge

Because the family is listed as living in Roanoke in 1935 rather than in “Same House,” it seems likely they bought the house sometime after 1935. In fact, the city directories available on Ancestry indicate they bought the house between 1936 and 1938. The 1937 directory is missing.

Digging a little deeper, I found on Trulia that the house was built in 1937.  It is described as being a little over 1500 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 1 bath.  This is probably the same house Rosalind and Dalton lived in the rest of their lives. 

from Google Maps
3622 Round Hill Ave, NW Roanoke, VA

This Christmas card shows the house as it looked before 1960 (the year Dalton died).  It is not much different today.

©2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.