Well, Freds Rd is somewhat of a mystery street in Oak Crest. So far I have not been able to find the original plat with its development date. What I do have is a plat as it appears in the old plat books downtown. The old handwritten property transfers contained some clues as to a time frame that Freds was created. I believe this time frame to be somewhere between August 1923 and March 1927 (I would further guess this date to be closer to 1927).
Freds Rd is a street that runs between the original parcels 5 and 6 along the north side of Friendship Cr and curves slightly north and runs more through the center of parcel 6. It was originally divided into 16 lots. The first lots purchased on Freds Rd were at the end of the street on the west side on 3/22/1927. Then, on 2/1/1928 the Buena Vista Co purchased the rest of the lots along both sides of the street. Later, between 1932 and 1938, the Kester family began purchasing all of the lots along both sides of the street (including the first two lots that were sold back in 1927). The property is still in the family today. The last 3 lots at the end of the street on the east side are/were the only lots that are not owned by the Kester (now Nisbet) family.
For a long time I thought Freds Rd was named after one of the Nisbet sons, Fred. After speaking with Carl Nisbet, Fred’s brother, I was told that it was named after either one of the developers of the street or by their attorney, whos first name was Fred. Additionally, the street sign reads “Freds Dr” but it is really “Freds Rd” (see plat below).
Freds Rd may also have a more deep rooted history dating back to the Moravians in the 1700’s, but I will discuss more on this later.
This plat shows Freds Rd as it runs between parcels 5 and 6. Notice how the street veers to the north making the lots on the east side smaller than those on the west side. Click on the plat above to view an expanded version or visit the entire Historic Oak Crest Photo Gallery.
When and if I learn more about the creation of Freds Rd, I will be sure to post it on this site.