As the renaissance of Jefferson Avenue continues apace, two residents of the street have led the charge to invest in their own backyard. Mr. Bill Wellbank and Mr. C.B. Maddox, Jr., have to their credit nearly a dozen rehabilitation projects either completed or underway. A pair of narrow, but spacious, weatherboarded houses at 245 and 249 Jefferson—echoing their neighbors in a picturesque "row" of similar structures—are but two of those projects.

These charming wood houses, and their neighbors in the "row," all date from the early to mid 1890s. They were built on a portion of the homestead of Mr. W.S. Patton, namesake for the street which intersects Jefferson just up the block.

The two-story dwellings at 245 and 249 Jefferson, each with side-hall plan and a Queen Anne style porch were built presumably as income property for Drs. Sumter and Franklin George. Sumter George, who built 245 Jefferson in 1893, was onetime City physician (public health officer). His brother Franklin George was responsible for 249 Jefferson, built in 1894. Both men were among the local physicians most esteemed by generations of Danvillians long past.

At least one family of long standing was associated with each address. For a quarter century, 245 Jefferson was home to Mr. Robert K. Moss, who came to Danville in 1881 from Clarksville. Mr. Moss, his wife and daughters lived here from
1906 to 1930, before moving to Green Street and then Sutherlin Avenue—where the last member of the family, Miss Laura Moss, died in 1973. The house next door at 249 Jefferson sheltered the Anthony family for six decades—as renters between the World Wars, and then as owners.

Mr. John Edge currently maintains a spacious apartment, with many period features intact, at 245 Jefferson; the house at 249 promises to tantalize visitors with hints of what's to come.