DILLARD STREET

Dillard St., Durham circa 1920s

Dillard St., Durham (approx same location) 2006

Dillard St., Durham circa 1920s

Dillard St., Durham (approx same location) 2006

Dillard Street was once the most fashionable address in Durham. The houses pictured in the top postcard were part of a three-block section called "Mansion Row." Anchored by Julian Carr's Somerset Villa at the southern end, these turn-of-the-century houses were primarily built in the Queen Anne style, and had replaced earier, simpler dwellings from the late 1800s.

As can be seen from the bottom photo, out of the original ~ 20 houses on Durham's Mansion Row, only two houses remain. Some were torn down in the mid-20th century, as the central business district expanded, and the area became more commercial. Many were destroyed as part of Durham's use of urban renewal funds in the 1960s. Dillard St. was widened to 4-lanes for a two block section, and the former lots were used for public housing projects, the main library, and sold to WTVD television station (with the 8 foot tall, fortress-like fence on the left of the bottom picture).

Dillard Street Aerial 1959

Dillard Street Satellite 2004

Vacant lots sit idle next to the two remaining houses; one of the lots is owned by the city of Durham. The streetscape, lighting, and surrounding land uses are incompatible with the Cleveland-Holloway historic district, which encompasses the land and houses on the right of the photograph. In addition, the urban-renewal generated sterile landscape acts as moat between the Cleveland-Holloway neighborhood and "in the loop" downtown. Narrowing this street, improving the sidewalks and streetscape and finding historically-appropriate land uses for the idle land (where a drug deal was occurring as I took this photo) should be city priorities.

City-owned vacant land, where a cross was burned last year. Drug deal was occurring in trees to right as this picture was taken

Here is the gas station (218 N Dillard St.) that was previouly on this spot (also visible on the satellite picture) and demolished via urban renewal. A large house was on this site previously, but no pictures of that house are extant.