West Geer Street

Originally the Hometown Sales and Service - a dealership for Kaiser Frazer automobiles, 410 W. Geer has housed the predecessor to Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC, the North Carolina Fund, and now is the Trotter building - an event center and retail space.

Looking southeast, 1953. (Courtesy Keith Phillips) Lloyd Brown started his bottling company on Morgan Street in March 1925, but in 1934 moved to a building on North Church St. when he outgrew this structure. This space soon proved too small as well, and he constructed a new, 'modern' bottling plant at 321 West Geer St., which opened June 1, 1939...

Looking northwest from West Geer St., 1953. (Courtesy Keith Phillips) One of my favorite mid-century modern buildings in Durham is the former Weeks Motor Company / Hutchins Auto Supply building. Built in 1948, Weeks was started by Albert Weeks, who ran a service station at North Durham Five Points (Little Five Points) in the 1930s and 1940s. The...

View looking north on Madison Street towards 316-320 West Geer, 11.25.49. (Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper) The buildings at 320-324 West Geer Street were constructed in 1949, likely intended as multi-tenant rental space from the outset. By 1955, the tenants were: 320: NC State Auto Association, CT Wilson Construction Co., Garrard Realty, and...