With the exception of Fairview and Caldwell Lanes, the primary streets and roads throughout the neighborhood are named after Southern authors and writers. The narrow “byways” are all named for local people who were in the chain of title for property purchased for the New Neighborhood.
As with other names in our neighborhood, the name Goodrum appears frequently in the history of Davidson. The largest portion of land (53 acres of 73 acres) on which New Neighborhood is located was a part of the Susan T. Goodrum Estate, settled in the 1950’s. Susan was the daughter of Munroe H. Goodrum, proprietor of M. H. Goodrum and Company.
M. H. Goodrum and Company opened as a general store around 1903 and was considered by many to be the largest and most elaborate store that has ever been in Davidson. It was certainly the dominant store in the 1920s and was only challenged by Knox and Brown, the only other important department store in Davidson’s history. It was located in the block now occupied by The Village Store. The Village Store, in fact, has existed as everything from a variety store (1902), to a movie theatre (“Motion Picture Palace,” 1916), to a hardware store (1940s), and back to a variety store (1949). The Depression took its toll on M. H. Goodrum & Company such that, in the 1940s, this store was the only surviving part of the company.
Munroe H. Goodrum was a Davidson commissioner from 1925 to 1926 and the mayor from 1926 to 1931. The Goodrum families were members of the Davidson Methodist Church.
Cloyd S. Goodrum, son of Munroe Goodrum, was named manager of Davidson’s new drug store in 1914. This drug store was a brick building located just south of the corner of Depot Street and Main Street (current site of the Tom Clarke Museum). It was originally owned by Joseph White, known for his association with Davidson drug stores since 1897, and was known as White Drug Company. Residents referred to the drug store as “Doc” Goodrum’s store, but the store remained the White Drug Company throughout the 51 year period of Cloyd Goodrum’s ownership. Cloyd Goodrum served as a Davidson commissioner from 1926 to 1931.
[My primary source of historical information is Mary D. Beaty’s book Davidson: A History of the Town from 1835 until 1937.]