Jake F. Newell House
(ca. 1912)
One of the oldest houses in Piedmont Park, an early Charlotte streetcar suburb, and home of longtime state Republican Party leader Jake Newell.
819 Sunnyside Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204
Built for locally renowned criminal defense attorney and longtime bachelor Jake F. Newell (1869-1945), the Sunnyside Avenue residence is one of the best-preserved local examples of the Four Square architectural style, an early twentieth-century movement that incorporated elements of both the Prairie School and Craftsman styles. Born in Cabarrus County, Newell worked as a reporter for the Charlotte Observer prior to his 1899 admission to the state bar. The University of North Carolina graduate began his Charlotte law practice in 1901. Within three years of moving into his new home, at the age of 46, Newell married Frances Moody Black (1884-1966), the 31-year-old daughter of one of his Sunnyside neighbors. The Newells lived together in the house until Jake’s death in 1945. Frances’ unmarried brother Louis M. Black (1895-1979) moved in with his sister, remaining after she passed away until his own death in 1979.
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A longtime member of the North Carolina Republican Party and a four-year chairman of its state executive committee (1938-1942), Jake Newell ran unsuccessfully for several statewide political offices including for the U.S. House (1904, 1914, 1920) and Senate (1932) and state attorney general (1908). His leadership of the Republican fight against the end of Prohibition proved more successful – nearly 70% of North Carolina voters rejected a 1933 amendment to repeal the 18th Amendment to the United States – but his efforts were in vain, as thirty-six states concurrently ratified the 21st Amendment thereby ending the American experiment with teetotalism.