Ailey Young House Tour

The Ailey Young House, located in the 300 block of North White Street, will be open 1 pm - 4 pm on Friday, February 27. No registration is required. The Ailey Young House may be the oldest remaining African-American historic building in Wake Forest. It has historical significance as a rare example of Reconstruction-era African American architecture, the home of Ailey and Henry Young, and childhood home of Allen Young, a significant citizen and educator in Wake Forest. It is believed that the house was constructed as rental housing by Wake Forest College Professor William G. Simmons and was one of a number of houses along a stretch of N. White Street known as "Simmons Row." These houses appear on the 1915 to 1936 Sanborn Fire Insurance map. After Professor Simmons' death in 1889, his widow, Mary Elizabeth subdivided his land and sold most of it to African American families.