It is one of the oldest remaining commercial buildings in Yazoo City, having survived the Fire of 1904.
It is known as the Wash Rose building.
But few know the fascinating story behind the building’s namesake.
The journey of Washington “Wash” Rose covers his capture in Africa, his enslavement in South Carolina and his freedom in Yazoo City. The former slave left a legacy in Yazoo with his reputable skills as a blacksmith, his successful business mind and his caring personality for his family and fellow man.
His name was Wash Rose, and he made history.
Wash was born on July 13, 1840. Based on a family oral history, he was born in Africa, where he was later in life captured and sent to South Carolina as a slave.
But Wash always had a strong work ethic with a business mind to match.
“He made extra money working as a blacksmith and was able to buy his freedom,” said LaVergne Randolph Jr., Wash’s great grandson. “He came to Yazoo City as a free person.”
Based on an 1879 newspaper article in the Yazoo Sentinel, Wash arrived in Yazoo City after the Civil War with nothing. But he was a free man.
“He came without a coat and was bareheaded,” the article reads. “He immediately went to work and begun to make money.”
Wash found a small place to rent, working on various projects.
“After paying rent, he had but $5,” the article continues. “Six weeks passed, and he received but little work. He did not become discouraged but hammered on. His application to business soon attracted attention, and in two weeks he was receiving considerable work.”
Wash was making a name for himself in Yazoo City. He worked hard, was reliable and considerate to others.
Wash even took to selling catfish on the side to make a little more money. According to The Catfish Book by Linda Crawford, selling catfish was a common business trade for freed slaves. Both black and white customers purchased the catfish.
“Wash Rose of Yazoo City earned much of the money he needed to set up his blacksmith shop and real estate ventures after the Civil War by selling catfish...” Crawford writes.
As Wash’s reputation began to spread, he was soon able to hire two employees, paying them weekly.
Wash purchased the Wash Rose building at 421 S. Main Street in 1870, four years after arriving in Yazoo City.
“He now owns two dwelling houses and a handsome two-story brick blacksmith shop,” the Yazoo Sentinel reads. “Those having work to be done in Wash’s line will find him reliable and that he is worthy of patronage.”
Nine years later, an article in The Yazoo Herald called Wash the “finest blacksmith in town.”
Outside of his blacksmith work, a newspaper advertisement shows that Wash also did “horseshoeing, carriage repair, plows made, sharpened and repaired with satisfaction guaranteed.”
Wash lived on the second story of his Main Street business with his wife and 12 children.
The upstairs section not only provided a stable home-life, but Wash opened his doors to the community.
“And on the top floor, dozens of young people learned to play musical instruments,” a newspaper article reads.
Harvey Perry, local historian, said it was in Wash’s home where he “first learned to blow a horn.”
Thanks to his growing business and successful endeavors, Wash was able to purchase additional property in his life. A deed from July 12, 1900 shows that he purchased property on Fifteenth Street from Mrs. Fanny J. Ricks for $1,400.
Records show that he later made his family home at 334 N. Monroe Street, which was underdeveloped at the time by the canal.
Wash died from pneumonia on Dec. 13, 1912. His obituary said that he “polite and well respected by both black and white.”
Wash is buried in Glenwood Cemetery.
Wash’s story could have taken a different turn. It could have ended with his capture and enslavement.
But he made history by buying his own freedom, succeeding in his business and leaving a legacy behind.
Wash crossed racial and social barriers. He was respected and admired in his community.
And the Wash Rose building still stands as a reminder of the remarkable man who made a name for himself.
He was a man who made history.
