Victorian

123 East Main St.

Looking northwest, 1905. (Courtesy Durham County Library) A 1905 view shows the growth of Yearby's drugstore at 123 East Main, which would become the first gasoline dealer in the city; pumps were generally set up at the edge of the sidewalk; I don't know where the tanks were contained. (Possibly in the under-sidewalk basements?) The Interior of Yearby's, ~1905.

904 Rome Avenue

Tucked away in the farthest northern portion of West End/Burch Avenue is a somewhat hidden street named Rome Avenue. I lived in Durham for years without knowing that it was there, until I began to wonder where the houses I could see from the Durham Freeway were located. This is the house at the end of Rome now, 904 Rome, which used to be at the...

1620 Duke University Road

The house at 1620 Duke University Road, owned by Jan Katherine Smith and her husband, has been abandoned for at least a decade now. These are baffling situations that I still can't really grasp - I contacted the owner a few times about 6 years ago about whether she and her husband would sell the house through HPSD, and she stated that they were...

618 Arnette Ave.

One meaningless, throwaway line I often hear when people are trying to justify why something needs be torn down is - "it's not worth saving." I heard it a fair amount about 618 Arnette Ave back in 2002. 618 Arnette Ave. was built in the early 20th century as one of several small Victorian houses ornamented with multiple sawnwork details and a wraparound front porch. It was originally the house of Sidney Bragg, a farmer.

Stanislaus Jourdan House / 514 S. Duke St.

Dozens of houses once lined South Duke St., north of Morehead Avenue. Early 20th century commercial expansion took over the area immediately surrounding West Main Street, but the stretch of S. Duke Street south of West Chapel Hill remained residential through the 1950s. However, the triumvurate of car-centered commercialization, urban renewal, and...

First Main Public Library : Five Points - East

The opposite point of Five Points was the first home of the main Durham Public Library, which was housed in a small wood-frame building Courtesy Durham County Library, circa 1910 Looking northwest (towards Five Points) from West Main St. (Courtesy Duke Archives) The main public library was established in 1897 as the first public, non-subscription...

905 Cleveland

Name: Hackney House Built: ~1900 Demolished: Between 1980 and 1994 Close to Little Five Points, the Hackney House was the home of Robert P Hackney, who owned the "Durham Seed House" on West Parrish Street. The corner tower was a not-uncommon feature on these large houses, although few survive. The house was demolished sometime between 1980 and 1994...

Crews House/ 526 Holloway

Name: Crews House Built: ~1905 Historic District: Cleveland-Holloway 526 Holloway in 1980 The Crews house was built by Paul Crews, an executive at the nearby (now defunct) Golden Belt Manufacturing Company. It has a similar multi-sided front and wrap-around porch to the single-story house next door at 524 Holloway. This house recently sold (as of...

606 Cleveland Street

Name: FL Hunter House Built: ~1900 Demolished: ~1980 Owner: First Baptist Church As with much of the neighborhood, Cleveland Street began to lose houses from commercial intrusion during the 1950s. Once construction of the Loop and the new fire station removed the southern end of Cleveland Street, the process accelerated. As noted previously, urban...

Parham Penn O'briant House

(Picture by G. Kueber, 2006) Another house featured in the 1980 architectural inventory, (and ironically noted then for its upkeep and recent renovation), 716 Holloway has been abandoned for a few years as of 2006. Per the inventory (note all present tenses refer to 1980) This recently restored house with the prominent and unusual clipped gable...