1408 Fayetteville Street – John C. Scarborough Rental House

Photograph by Heather Slane (hmwPreservation) - December 2009.

From Preservation Durham Historic Plaque Application

John C. Scarborough, the first licensed African American embalmer in North Carolina, owned 1408 Fayetteville Street. The property was located next to his home at 1406 Fayetteville Street. It was only ever used as a rental property, likely built as an additional source of income for the Scarborough family. In an oral history with John’s daughter, Ernestine Scarborough Bynum, the Scarborough family, particularly her mother, Daisy, bought numerous lots along Fayetteville Street to eventually develop. Ernestine’s Durham home at 1407 Fayetteville Street was one of these purchased lots. Ernestine’s home was developed as an additional source of income before she moved in and continued to be rented out while she lived there, meaning 1408 Fayetteville Street was likely developed for the same purpose as well.

The home had numerous renters over the years. Many of the earliest renters occupied the home for short periods of time. The first long-term occupant was Mary S. Justice, who lived in the home for ten years. Mary worked as a maid at Duke University and Durham City Public Schools. She attended White Rock Baptist Church and was a member of the Prospect Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. Mary was also a foster mother and had three foster children at the time of her passing in 1982.

The longest occupant of the home was Addie Marie Faulk. Marie, as she went by, was originally born in Hertford, North Carolina. She moved numerous times before coming to Durham to attend North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University), where she was trained as an elementary school teacher. Marie also took courses at the Hampton Institute and the Winston-Salem Teachers’ College. Marie taught in numerous schools around North Carolina before she finally returned to Durham in 1931, where she remained for the rest of her life. She taught in Durham City Public Schools for the rest of her career, with most of her time spent teaching at Lyon Park Elementary. She ended her 42-year teaching career for Durham City Public Schools after retiring from Club Boulevard School in 1971. 

During her time in Durham, Marie was involved in the community in numerous ways. Marie was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority for over 50 years and hosted a monthly lunch for her sorority sisters at her home at 1408 Fayetteville Street. She also hosted the Little Slam Bridge Club at her home. Marie was an active volunteer at the YWCA, Duke University Hospital, and Lincoln Hospital. Furthermore, she was a longtime member of St. Joseph’s A.M.E. Church, where she celebrated her 100th birthday. She was also involved with the church as a Sunday school teacher and superintendent, and a member of the Ladies Aid Club and Lay Organization. 

Marie spent nearly half of her 100-year life in her home at 1408 Fayetteville Street. She continued to live at the property until she moved to the Brian Center Health and Rehab for the last few years of her life. 

1408 Fayetteville Street no longer stands. In December 2021, the property caught on fire, decimating much of the original structure. It was eventually demolished and is currently an empty lot.

Sources:

Carolina Times

Durham Sun

“Ernestine Bynum interview recording, 1993, May 27," conducted by Karen Ferguson, from Duke University Archives, Behind the Veil: Documenting African American Life in the Jim Crow South Interviews, last accessed May 29, 2026, https://repository.duke.edu/dc/behindtheveil/btvnc03006#. 

Herald Sun

Previous Entries

Below, in italics, from the Stokesdale National Register Historic District nomination:

This one-story, hip-roofed house is three bays wide and single-pile with a two-room, gabled rear ell on the northwest corner and a shed-roof addition beyond the ell. The house has a brick pier foundation with concrete-block curtain wall, plain wood weatherboards, and an interior, corbelled brick chimney. It has two front doors, both boarded over, and two-over-two, double-hung horizontal-pane wood sash windows throughout. A hip-roofed dormer centered on the façade has a pair of single-pane windows. The shed-roofed front porch is supported by tapered posts on brick piers; it is accessed by a granite stair. The earliest known occupant is John Morton in 1920; Morton appears to have run an “eating house” out of this location. County tax records confirm a 1920 construction date.

The structure appears to have been used for this commercial purpose for only a few of its earliest years.  In addition to Morton, men named Iredell Williams and James Adams are listed as eating house proprietors here before it seems to have been converted to rental residential use in the second half of the 1920s.  Names listed at this address for city directories for corresponding years (with listed profession in parentheses) include:

1927, 1930 - Nathalie and Robert Dixon (tobacco worker)

1935 - Victoria and Radar Cohen (auto mechanic)

1940 - Victoria Cohen

1950 - Mary S. Justice (maid, E. K. Powe School)

1960 - Mary C. and Robert G. Thomas (barber, New Deal Barber Shop); A. Marie Faulk (public school teacher)

We know from other sources that Ms. Faulk taught at the Lyon Park School for nearly forty years.  She was also a longtime member and Sunday School superintendant at St. Joseph AME Church.  Still living here at 1408 Fayetteville Street in her long retirement, Ms. Faulk celebrated her 100th birthday in 2005.  She passed away the following year.

04.08.12

Durham County Tax Administration photo, September 2017.

In early December 2021, the Durham Fire Department reported a major blaze had broken out on the 1400 block of Fayetteville Street, with 58 fire fighters responding to 2:30am call.

Looking south down the east side of Fayetteville Street, with the fire engine and trees obscuring 1408 Fayetteville, apparently the source of the smoke. (Photo by Durham Fire Department Assistant Chief Brian Eaton, posted to DFD Facebook.) A portion of the neighboring Scarborough House is visible at the right edge, and it may also have sustained some damage in the fire.

While there were fortunately no reported occupants or injuries, it does appear the fire caused catastrophic damage to the structure.

1.20.2022 (N. Levy)