1944 - D.L. Stokes & Company Grows

After World War II, Stokes saw an opportunity to build houses, mainly for veterans. For a man who loved progress, there was nothing more exciting than an opportunity. He began to build “cracker box” houses; a type of house architect Charlie Moore calls a “totally solid, well-built rectangular box that fulfilled a huge need in 1950.” Later, he built apartment communities. When it comes down to it, DL’s primary objective wasn’t a lot different from his father’s. He cared for the land and for the people who lived on it. To DL, life wasn’t about the mortgage business; it was about taking care of people and land. He serviced mortgage loans. He built houses. He also built apartment communities. In so doing, he provided a leg up to the growing middle class of the new South. DL Stokes didn’t farm cotton or tobacco or corn, he farmed something different: homes.