Weekly Acorn #53
Over the years there have been several small businesses that were either located in Oak Crest or near the neighborhood that were a significant part of our community. This multi-part series will cover those businesses.
I will begin the series with the one business that included the name Oak Crest and the one that inspired me to begin the historical research of our neighborhood. One day I was cleaning out my attic and found a box with a dried corsage from one of my sisters high school dances. The box read “Oak Crest Florist, 314 Friendship Circle.”
This house at 314 Friendship Cr was the home of Ralph and Eleanor Lyon. Mrs Lyon ran the Oak Crest Florist in her basement. Click on the photo above to view an expanded version or visit the entire Historic Oak Crest Photo Gallery.
314 Friendship Cr was the home of Ralph and Eleanor Lyon. They built the house in 1947, which was just next door to Ralph’s parents (310 Friendship). Eleanor started a florist in the garage area of her basement, called Oak Crest Florist. Later they added a two car detached garage and two greenhouses behind it.
She ran the florist until she decided to sell it and raise their two daughters, Linda and Teresa. So, she sold the florist to Betty Cartwright Seivers who moved the business to her home in Walkertown. Betty kept the name Oak Crest Florist and ran it until she retired.
Betty was a close friend and employee of Eleanor’s. Betty also grew up in Oak Crest. Her father, Walter Cartwright, farmed the land of Sunnynoll Farm (the Egbert Davis estate corner of Reynolda Rd & Polo Rd). The Cartwright’s lived in a small brick bungalow on the farm. The brick on the house matched the light colored brick on the main house of Sunnynoll. The little house, now demolished, was located on Polo Rd (north side) where the bridge crosses over Silas Creek Pky.
Eleanor later joined her brother at Sherwood Flower Shop on Robinhood Rd until she retired. After the death of her husband, Eleanor decided to sell the home. She has since remarried and lives in town and is now Eleanor Brown.