Golden Lilly

  Clifton Street in East Waco was the road that led out of town heading north up to Dallas.  It was also the alignment of the Interurban train that led into downtown.  As a transportation corridor, the road saw a lot of traffic and was considered an entertainment row featuring night clubs (Golden Lilly, Reed’s Hot Spot, Jack’s Paradise), restaurants (Mary Harrell’s Cafe, Friday’s Cafe), and the Alpha Theatre. The earliest documented evidence of the Golden Lilly's existence dates back to 1942, with James Henry Jackson’s World War II draft card listing his workplace as 426 Clifton Street, where he is identified as self-employed. This address and date correspond to the location of the Golden Lilly as listed in the 1947 Green Book.  

     Born in Marlin, Texas, around 1896, James Henry Jackson moved to Waco with his mother, Martha Ann Riley Jackson, by 1916.  He lived at 608 Jefferson Avenue and a couple of other rental addresses before eventually purchasing 322 Lottie Avenue in 1934. In 1917, James was unmarried and worked as a porter at Clark and Barbados. The following year, he married Ophelia Parker, and their son, James Henry Jackson, Junior, was born in 1919.  

     The Golden Lilly is only listed in the 1943 Waco city directory, however based on Jackson’s draft card and Green Book travel guides, the Golden Lilly was in business at least from 1942 through 1947.  Ophelia and James Junior also worked at the night club.  In 1953, the address is listed as the One-Two-Three Club, and later became the Black Cat Tavern by 1961.   

     James Henry Jackson, Senior, passed away on August 27, 1967, in nearby Axtell, Texas, and is buried in Waco’s Greenwood Cemetery.