Irvin Washington Grogan Sr. was born on this day in 1886, in Virginia, to Lafayette Smith and Sallie Griggs Grogan.
He came to Winston-Salem in 1913, and worked for R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company as a construction foreman. He supervised the building of homes in Cameron Park for the tobacco company.
He later went into business for himself, establishing I. W. Grogan Construction Company. He built many homes in Winston-Salem, including those he built for his children. His son, Harold, also worked in the family business.
He was one of the first residents of Elizabeth Avenue, and built his home in the new Ardmore neighborhood. He moved to Elizabeth Avenue about 1926 , with his wife Eva Bell Cherry Grogan, and their eight children. He lived there until his death in 1968.
His children fondly recalled growing up in Ardmore, when all the neighbors knew each other, and there were many children for playmates. They enjoyed the freedom of roaming through the woods, hunting, and making life-long friends. One of his sons, Joe Grogan, remembered the days before Miller Park was built, when a cornfield occupied that part of the neighborhood.
Irvin W. Grogan Sr. is better known to his 17 grandchildren, including the author of this website, as “Granddaddy Grogan.”
The photo above shows Mr. Grogan at the cornerstone laying for the Masonic Lodge on Miller Street in 1955.
Photograph courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
