1013 North Gregson Street- Carlos C. & Azzie B. Martin House

(Below in italics is from the National Register listing; not verified for accuracy by this author.)

This late 1920s brick Foursquare has a pyramidal roof which flares to wide eaves and a centered hip-roofed dormer. A full-facade hip-roofed front porch is carried by heavy brick columns and a brick balustrade trimmed by granite. A recent brick wall defines the property.

From the Preservation Durham Plaque Application (below in italics): 

Carlos and Azzie Martin are the original and longest owners of 1013 N Gregson Street. They acquired the parcel of land in 1919 after Azzie inherited a house and lot on the east side of Angier Avenue from the estate of her late father, C.J. Byrd (see deed 54-328). According to the Herald-Sun, the home at 1013 N Gregson was built in 1925 with construction costing more than $10,000; no architect was named. 

While the home was being built, the family resided at 715 Shepherd Street, but had moved in by 1926. Carlos and Azzie lived in the home on N Gregson until their deaths in the late 60s. In the city directories, several other names appear listed alongside CC Martin as residents of 1013 N Gregson; it was common for families to take on renters, whether with some separation in the house or in individual bedrooms.

Carlos, or C.C., worked as a foreman at Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company for 40 years and as Vice President Secretary of the Young Roofing Company for around 15 years. C.C. was also a member of the Durham Masonic Lodge No. 352 for over 50 years. Both Carlos and Azzie were devoted members of the Duke Memorial Methodist Church with Azzie often hosting Woman’s Missionary Society meetings at their home on Tuesday nights. 

The other significant owner of the home is Edward Thalmann who resided there for a decade until his passing in 2004. His obituary in The Herald-Sun says this about his career accomplishments: 

Captain Thalmann, U.S. Navy, an internationally recognized physician, scientist and applied mathematician, was a leader in the application of modern mathematical techniques to the prevention of decompression sickness (the “bends”) in under-water divers. He was a major architect of the thinking and research that formed the underpinnings of our modern diving tables and theory of decompression sickness. 

In Durham, Thalmann was an Assistant Professor in Anesthesiology at the Duke University Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology as well as the Assistant Medical Director for the Divers Alert Network, Durham chapter.