Echoes from the Sandhills

Echoes in Action: Lives that Shaped the Sandhills and the World

Series 4 - Echo 10: Building Opportunity — The Legacy of John Green Phillips

Some people leave behind a single accomplishment. Others leave a trail of enterprises, institutions, and community investments that continue to echo long after they are gone.

John Green "J.G." Phillips was one of those people.

Born near Cameron, North Carolina, around 1868, Phillips entered a world still adjusting to the end of slavery. The Civil War had concluded only three years earlier, and freedom, while long awaited, did not guarantee opportunity. African Americans throughout the South faced the daunting task of building lives, businesses, and communities in a society that often sought to limit their advancement.

Yet amid those challenges emerged men and women who refused to let circumstances define their future.

John Green Phillips was among them.

By 1910, census records show Phillips living in Sanford and operating his own barber shop. While a barber shop provided a livelihood, it also served as a gathering place where relationships were formed, news was exchanged, and community ties were strengthened. For many Black entrepreneurs of the era, business ownership represented not only economic independence but also a pathway toward community leadership.

Phillips was not content to stop there.

As Sanford grew, so did his ambitions. In September 1915, newspapers announced that a charter had been issued for the Phillips-Boykin Drug Company. The newly formed corporation was authorized with capital of $5,000, a significant investment at the time. Along with his business partners, Phillips helped establish what would become one of the most enduring Black-owned businesses in Sanford.

The significance of that achievement should not be overlooked.

During the Jim Crow era, access to capital, property, and business opportunities was often restricted for African Americans. Yet Phillips and his associates built a formal corporation that would serve the community for decades. The Phillips-Boykin Drug Company was more than a store—it was an institution.

Evidence of its growth continued to appear throughout the years. By 1920, Phillips was listed in the census not as a barber, but as a merchant, reflecting his expanding role in Sanford's business community.

In 1930, newspaper accounts reported that the Phillips-Boykin Drug Company had moved to a new location on Steele Street. The relocation suggests a thriving enterprise with an established customer base and growing presence within Sanford's African American commercial district.

Over time, the drug store became so well known that local writers used it as a landmark when describing other locations in town. One historical article referred to an earlier tobacco manufacturing site as being located "near the present site of Phillips-Boykin colored drug store." Businesses become landmarks only when they become woven into the fabric of community life.

The Phillips-Boykin Drug Store was clearly one of those places.

The store was also more than a pharmacy. Newspaper accounts reveal a business that sold a variety of goods and served as a neighborhood gathering place. In 1933, Phillips-Boykin received one of Lee County's newly issued beer licenses following the repeal of Prohibition, demonstrating the company's ability to adapt to changing times and economic conditions.

Seven years later, a burglary at the store made local news. Though unfortunate, the article offers a glimpse into daily life at Phillips-Boykin. Among the items stolen were cash, cigarettes, candy, and assorted merchandise, evidence that the establishment served customers seeking a wide range of everyday necessities.

Yet J.G. Phillips' entrepreneurial vision extended beyond the drug store.

Among his most notable ventures was the Phillips Hotel, located near the intersection of Pearl and Moore Streets in Sanford. During the era of segregation, the hotel served African American travelers who often faced discrimination and exclusion when seeking accommodations.

Between 1938 and 1941, the Phillips Hotel appeared in the Negro Motorist Green Book, the guide that helped Black travelers find safe lodging, meals, and services throughout the United States.

Its inclusion was no small matter.

For African Americans traveling during the Jim Crow era, establishments listed in the Green Book provided something far more important than convenience. They provided dignity, safety, and welcome. Families could travel with greater confidence knowing there was a place where they would be treated with respect.

Through the Phillips Hotel, J.G. Phillips became part of a larger network of Black-owned businesses that made travel possible for countless Americans.

His influence was not limited to commerce.

Newspaper accounts described Phillips as both a businessman and a churchman. He supported the work of Blandonia Presbyterian Church and participated in community fundraising efforts. One report from 1937 noted that a representative of "Mr. John G. Phillips' Store" helped raise funds for church initiatives, reflecting his continued investment in the institutions that strengthened community life.

By the time of his death in 1940, Phillips had become one of Sanford's most respected citizens. Newspaper accounts noted that he had accumulated substantial property and was widely recognized as a prominent businessman and community leader. His funeral was held at Blandonia Presbyterian Church before he was laid to rest near Cameron, the community where his journey had begun.

But perhaps the greatest testament to his legacy came after his passing.

A 1946 advertisement for Fairview Ice Cream listed the Phillips-Boykin Drug Store among the select businesses in Sanford where customers could purchase the popular product. Six years after John Green Phillips' death, the store that bore his name was still serving the community.

Children likely stopped by for treats.

Families purchased everyday necessities.

Neighbors gathered, talked, and shared news.

The business endured because the foundation he built endured.

Today, the barber shop is gone. The drug store no longer stands. The hotel has disappeared from the landscape. Yet the story of John Green Phillips remains.

His life reminds us that history is not shaped solely by politicians, famous figures, or national events. It is also shaped by local entrepreneurs who create opportunities where few exist, invest in their communities, support their churches, and build institutions that outlive them.

From a barber shop to a drug company.

From a grocery business to a Green Book hotel.

From merchant to community leader.

John Green Phillips spent a lifetime building more than businesses.

He was building opportunity.

And the echoes of that work can still be heard across the Sandhills today.