Weekly Acorn #37
The story of Belmont Court – the street that wasn’t!
In several of my past Weekly Acorns (WA) I have referenced Aaron Ln and Belle Vista Ct (WA #19); lot T on Rosedale Cr (WA #32); and lot 137 1/2 on Rosedale Cr (WA #35) stating that I would discuss these more in a later post. Well, this week I am going to wrap up some loose ends surrounding these topics.
Oak Crest actually has two additional little streets but they are not connected to any of the other streets in the neighborhood. Originally, there was to be a single street that branched off of Rosedale Cr where 135 Rosedale is now located. The street was to be called Belmont Court but it was never cut through.
Instead, Belmont Ct was redesigned into two streets (Aaron Ln and Belle Vista Ct) and became accessible from Faculty Dr, north (now Allen Easley Way) on the campus of Wake Forest University. Here is what happened……
In 1934, T L and S C Ogburn purchased a large parcel of land (~ 11 acres) on the southeast end of Rosedale Cr (parcel 137 1/2, which was derived from lot T). Then in April 1936 they had it subdivided into several lots which was platted by C M Miller, C. E. (Civil Engineer). The parcel was divided into seven large lots which would be accessible by a proposed single street off Rosedale Cr that would run along the east border of the original parcel (at the time this was adjacent to the Reynolda estate, now WFU). These large lots were all located on the west side of the proposed street and the Reynolda estate (now WFU) was located along the east side of the proposed street. Also that same year a house was built on lot #1 (lot closest to Rosedale). The property was then sold several times and was finally purchased by W C Aaron and wife Rosa Anna in 1943.
This plat shows the subdivision of lot 137 1/2 on Rosedale Cr as proposed with a single street (Belmont Ct) and 7 lots. Click on the plat above to view an expanded version or visit the entire Historic Oak Crest Photo Gallery.
That same year the Aarons divided lots 2-7 of the parcel into smaller lots (1-11) and changing the original lot #1 into lot #12 and keeping it for themselves and living in the existing house (I will tell more about this house in an upcoming post). In this change they also relocated the proposed street. Instead of having the street to run along the east border of the parcel, it was rerouted to run down the middle of the parcel with the smaller lots on either side of the street. The name of this street was to be Belmont Ct (perhaps named after the Aaron’s daughter, Annabelle Aaron Montgomery).
Mr Aaron passed away in 1952 and Rosa Anna Aaron became sole owner of the still undeveloped property. Then when the adjacent Reynolda estate property was donated to Wake Forest College by the Reynolds family to build their new campus, Mrs Aaron negotiated with the College to have access to the property from the new campus. This also provided a market for those lots to Wake Forest personnel.
This deal created a change in the property from one proposed steet (Belmont Ct) to the two streets that are pesent today. Aaron Ln is one block long and begins at Allen Easley Way (formerly Faculty Dr, north) between buildings 5 & 6 of Faculty Apartments and extends west for one block. Then Belle Vista Ct picks up at the end of Aaron Ln and runs south one (long) block and ends in a cul-de-sac.
This plat shows the subdivision of lot 137 1/2 as it was actually developed with two streets (Aaron Ln and Belle Vista Ct) and 12 lots. Notice that there is no connection to Rosedale Cr. Instead, Aaron Ln connects with Allen Easley Way on the campus of WFU. Click on the plat above to view an expanded version or visit the entire Historic Oak Crest Photo Gallery.
Aaron Ln was named after the family, of course, and Belle Vista Ct was named after the Aaron’s daughter, Annabelle Aaron Montomery.
Because these streets are accessible from WFU and not through Rosedale Cr, as originally planned, they are now recognized as part of the Wake Forest University Property Owners Association. But to us, they will always be Oak Crest’s “little orphans.”