Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Much of what I know about life in Washington during the Civil War comes from the oral histories passed down generation to generation, with the emphasis that we do not forget to tell future generations the stories of resilience, faith and the ability to make a better future. Some of these stories come from the generations of Joe Jones, an enslaved man (born 1826) who lived on Elmwood Plantation and Fanny Grist’s generations who told of her story about living on Elmwood Plantation. Here is one of those stories. Other stories told by Mary Haven’s (born 1840) generations also add to what has been told.

Free blacks and some enslaved people in Washington used their skills and talents to grow their businesses and endeavors even during this adverse time. The story of ‘Washington Pies’ (sweet potato pies) was known to Union soldiers (who called them that in jest.) They loved the Washington pies, especially since the cooks used molasses and sorghum in addition to whatever sugar they could find which made the pies very popular with the soldiers.

They sought out black cooks to provide them with food to break the monotony of Army chow. In this picture, soldiers line up to buy ‘Washington Pies’ and other foods which they found hard to come by and ‘absolutely delicious! Many local black people made money this way and found great favor with Union Troops. There was a little ‘shanty town’ of enslaved people living near the foot of the Tar-Pamlico Bridge near the out skirts of the Grist Plantation (Elmwood Plantation.) Take Two Computer Store is located in that area today.

This location is confirmed by a Union Army News Correspondent, Corporal, Zenas T. Haines. The soldiers couldn’t get these meals anywhere else. Black men and women working as cooks in the Union Army in Washington sometimes could not get the supplies needed for such treats, so the Black civilian cooks made a good living peddling their meals to eager and hungry soldiers.

There were a few Sutler’s tents located nearby where soldiers frequented for all of their favorite ‘southern meals’ which included fried fish, hoe cakes, pecan biscuits, honey bread, collard greens and sweet potato pies.

The cooks would also take food up to the Sutler tent Fort Ceres which was located at Elmwood Plantation. Many Blacks made money selling food to the soldiers, often becoming owners of their own eating establishments after the war. One of the largest restaurants, the Jones Restaurant and Hotel on Main Street, where the Buoy Tender Condominiums are today, was one of these. I’ll tell you more about it on my next African American Walking History Tour of downtown Washington coming up next month. I hope you’ll come and listen to my stories.

Leesa Jones is a Washington native and the co-curator of the Washington Waterfront Underground Railroad Museum.