WATTS HOSPITAL (1909-1980) / NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATH
WATTS HOSPITAL (1909-1980) / NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATH
1201
Broad Street
, Durham
NC
Cross street:
West Club Boulevard
built in
1909
/ modified in 1911
,
1919
,
1927
,
1934
,
1945
,
1953
,
1980
Architect/Designer:
Rand and Taylor
,
Carr, George Watts
/ Builder:
Kane, George W.
Architectural style:
Construction type:
Local historic district:
National Register:
Neighborhood:
Type:
George Watts-funded hospital became the primary hospital for white patients in Durham during the early to mid-20th century; it closed in the 1970s after the creation of Durham Regional Hospital and became the home for the new North Carolina School of Science and Math
Recent Comments
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Funny how memory works. Just, by Anonymous at Fri, 10/30/2009 - 9:00am
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The caretaker cottage has had, by Anonymous at Fri, 10/30/2009 - 12:22pm
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thanks for this Gary. Your, by Anonymous at Fri, 10/30/2009 - 1:51pm
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I have the distinction of, by Michael Bacon at Fri, 10/30/2009 - 3:12pm
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The original powerhouse was, by Michael Bacon at Fri, 10/30/2009 - 3:12pm
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ahh, man, thanks for posting, by Anonymous at Fri, 10/30/2009 - 6:24pm
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The movie Michael refers to, by Cathy at Fri, 10/30/2009 - 7:58pm
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Thanks, Cathy. I thought it, by Michael Bacon at Fri, 10/30/2009 - 10:19pm
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When NCSSM was just getting, by John Schelp at Sat, 10/31/2009 - 12:29pm
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@Michael - NCSSM has, by Toby at Mon, 11/02/2009 - 4:10am
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Fresh from completing his, by John Schelp at Mon, 11/02/2009 - 3:45pm
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Born there, but have an, by cg at Tue, 11/03/2009 - 2:42pm
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Wow, this was a great read., by Anonymous at Sun, 11/22/2009 - 9:51pm
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To whom that may know, what, by Anonymous at Mon, 04/19/2010 - 2:19am
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Wow--so glad I found this, by M.C. Sims at Mon, 10/31/2011 - 4:50pm
In tours
- This building does not appear in any tours yet.
Last updated
- Thu, 08/04/2011 - 12:02pm by gary
Location
36° 1' 5.7504" N, 78° 55' 15.4704" W
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Comments
Funny how memory works. Just looking at the pictures, I can almost smell that particular hospital odor (sanitizers I suppose) and remember the sounds of the emergency room from when I was there as a kid.
When you say it was the first residentual state high school of its kind, do you mean for math and science? Because North Carolina Scool of the Arts had both junior high and high school residential arts students in the 1970s.
The caretaker cottage has had a life of its own, having been moved twice during the existence of NCSSM. First to between the "1954 building", then later when the new Frederick building was built to its current location between Wyche House/Royall Center and Broad Street.
thanks for this Gary. Your highlights are an incredible service
I have the distinction of being one of a handful of people to have both a birth certificate and a diploma from this location. Obviously, I remember considerably less about obtaining the first, but in 1976, the maternity ward was on the third floor of what at least now is known as the Brian (Bryan?) building, about where I had my Research in Biology class my senior year.
A few bits of history to note since it's been opened as the school. Wyche, now the Royall Center, was a condemned building even through 1994 when I was there. It had served as a dorm in the early years of the school, before asbestos was discovered during the asbestos scare of the late 1980's, and the building was vacated in a matter of hours. The only used part of the building was a holography lab in the basement, but it had a back porch of sorts that was one of the two designated smoking area for campus. In the early 90's, this meant that the "Wycher" crowd was a general cast of smokers, long hairs, flannel wearers, and other excellent disreputable types. (I wasn't a Wycher, but had lots of friends who were.)
I believe it was 1990 that a new dormatory was built on the north side of campus, north of Hill Hall, the 1950's-era nurses dormatory to the west of Wyche. It was soon named the James B. Hunt dormatory, after all Hunt did to start the school, but in the typical contrary nature of the students, everyone refused for years to actually call it that, and so it was unofficially still "New Dorm" up until I left.
The Charles Eilber physical education center ("the PEC") in the northwestern section of the campus was built largely upon the efforts of and named after one of the first chancellors. Similarly, the John Frederick Education and Technology Center on the west end of Brian became the focus of "Director Frederick's" term towards the end of his career, where he pursued the money and the plans to build it. (It was about the same time that the new entry lobby on the front of Brian was built). Both of these were part of a general theme -- directors of the school who were reviled by students and faced open revolt by faculty during their duration, and whose terms improved immensely when they quit messing with the running of the school and went off to build a building. I rolled my eyes at the opening of the ETC when they announced it would be named after Frederick (I was sitting next to my old principal, so couldn't say too much), but current faculty said it was entirely appropriate, as he was the one who did everything to get it built, and that this was a godsend because it kept him from causing trouble elsewhere. From everything I've heard about current President Boarman (he changed the name of the position for whatever reason), and his predilection for insane security measures and faculty harassment, I think most of the school can't wait until he decides to start working on a building. (The N&O, having done with Mike Easley for the moment, appears to be turning their attention to Boarman, which I think I need to start making popcorn for.)
I can't quite remember where it used to be, but the "cabin" at the northeast corner is a historic building, but not in its historic location. Either just before I arrived there, or between my years there, it was moved to make room for some new project.
The original powerhouse was still standing when I was there, to the north of the Reynolds pavilion, or the southern, patient wing of the original facility (which I actually had no idea was part of the original complex -- I thought it was an addition). It apparently suffered an explosion and collapse at some point, because those who broke in and looked around reported that the enormous flywheel and other old steam equipment was still in there, thrown off its moorings. The building has since been removed -- I do hope some steampunk got a hold of the old equipment.
The odd "sundial" sculpture to the north of Brian, which in my opinion is pretty aesthetically crappy, is also apparently assembled incorrectly. The steel-reinforced concrete was built with a bias to resist warp in one direction, but was assembled upside-down. One can hope this might mean it will fall over sooner.
During my senior year, some made-for-tv-movie signed some agreement to use the campus for filming, primarily the old administrative wing (now just called "Watts") and put an enormous sign over the front gates that said, "State Colony for the Eplieptic and Feebleminded." We of course all went out and got our pictures taken by the sign.
And finally, the bicycle shelter on the west side of Hill Hall was a student Special Projects Week endeavor of some friends of mine. I was writing a computerized population simulator at the time, and took breaks to go pound nails with them.
ahh, man, thanks for posting this. it's amazing, some of those 1920s and 1930s pics look exactly the same as ones i took there, just the trees are a little bigger. the history of the hospital is fascinating. (i graduated from ncssm in '99.)
The movie Michael refers to was "Against her Will; the Carrie Buck Story", a Lifetime movie about the seminal forced-sterilization case.
And I think it is Bryan, not Brian.
Thanks, Cathy. I thought it was Bryan, then I couldn't convince myself that it looked right.
When NCSSM was just getting off the ground, the new administration noticed the sinks in some of the buildings were often stopped up -- and ordered new drainage pipes. The clogged pipes were removed and piled up in the woods behind the old hospital.
A long-time custodian asked school administrators if he could have the old pipes and they said yes. The custodian then made several trips with his pick-up, carting off all the old pipes.
The next day, the custodian called the folks at Science & Math to let them know he was retiring.
After years of medical waste going down the drain, the old hospital pipes were filled with silver.
(Story from long-time NCSSM teacher, Joe Liles.)
@Michael - NCSSM has submitted plans to construct some more buildings in the central part of the campus. One result will apparently be the removal of the bike shed. I took a walk over there this evening, and for the life of me I can't really understand how that bike shed could be very useful. The 80-100 bikes stored in it are in such close proximity that it would be difficult to get one out without having to move 10-15 others. The original wooden framed structure is now ringed with a chain-link fence, making access that much more difficult.
Hopefully, the final plans will include a substantial amount of up-to-date bicycle parking distributed around the whole campus.
Fresh from completing his hike of the Appalachian Trail, retired NCSSM teacher Joe Liles sent me a note to say the story of the silver-clogged pipes happened back in the 1950s.
According to Joe, the clogged sinks were in the X-ray department -- when it was on the upper floors of the Emergency Room addition, near the Surgical Suite (ie. current location of the NCSSM Art Studio). The pipes were cast iron and attracted the silver that was dissolved in the fixer used in processing the X-rays. The cast iron pipes were replaced with good old PVC.
Folks at Watts Hospital thought the custodian who asked for the pipes back in the woods was crazy, but he got the last laugh. (Thanks, Joe!)
Born there, but have an aversion to science and math, so I have the irony but not the diploma.
Wow, this was a great read. Thank you! For those who'd like to see more old images of Watts Hospital, see:
http://www.kspot.org/watts/
--NCSSM, c/o 1992
To whom that may know, what was the name of the first African American child born at Watts during segregation? Please reply to kiddee723@yahoo.com. thank you D Parker
Wow--so glad I found this website! I was born here at Watts, but moved to Georgia in mid fifties.
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