1944 - D.L. Stokes & Company Grows

After World War II, DL recognized opportunities to build housing, 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.” Versions of these houses were sold through the Sears & Roebuck catalog. The company continued originating and servicing mortgage loans while developing subdivisions, building homes and apartment communities, and in doing so, DL provided a leg up to the growing middle class of the new South. DL Stokes didn’t farm cotton, tobacco or corn, he farmed something different: homes.