Courthouse

The county's 1978-2012 courthouse was outdated and hated from the moment it was completed. Worse yet, the powers-that-be destroyed an entire block of attractive - some beautiful - structures in order to build this cold mess. The best of the lot was the Hotel Malbourne, on the northwest corner of N. Roxboro and East Main. Looking northwest, 1966...

The east side of the 300 block of McMannen Street was developed as a residential area to the east of the Blackwell Factory. McMannen Street, 1881. The rise of the Austin-Heaton Flour Company and Kramer Tobacco company increased the commercial pressure on this section. The corner of Cora and McMannen was, by the 1890s, inhabited by MA Angier, a...

The northeast corner of Main and Corcoran Street has seen its share of building drama Blacknall's Drugstore was one of the first in the city, and Stokes Hall acted as a meeting place, courthouse, entertainment venue, etc. The buildings were destroyed in the fire of 1914

Looking southwest, ~1920. (Courtesy Duke Archives). After Durham County was established by vote of the state legislature in 1881, the first courthouse (and everything else related to the business of the new county) was located in rented space in Stokes Hall, on the northeast corner of Corcoran and West Main St.