1619 Fayetteville Street- McLaughlin Neighborhood Store

Two-story pyramidal house, originally two bays wide and two bays deep with a typical four-square configuration, that has been added onto and expanded multiple times. A wrapping one-story wing, potentially an original porch, has been a store since before the 1937 Sanborn map recorded the footprint.

William Henry (W.H.) McLaughlin and his wife, Mrs. Mozella “Mrs. Mac” Lamber McLauglin, an early leader in the Hayti revitalization effort, owned 1619 Fayetteville Street, the McLaughlin’s Neighborhood Store. Mrs. McLaughlin grew up in Gulf, North Carolina, a small town located in southwestern Chatham County. She earned her B.S. degree from Fayetteville State Teachers’ College, then moved up the road from her hometown to Goldston, NC, where she began her career in teaching and married her future husband in 1940. W.H. McLaughlin, also from North Carolina, was an educator who received his bachelor’s degree from St. Augustine’s College. After Mr. McLaughlin’s brief stint in the U.S. Army, the McLaughlins moved to Durham, NC, where they both earned Master’s degrees from North Carolina College (now NCCU) and opened their locally-renowned Neighborhood Store in 1948.

This business became a popular stop for residents traveling along the corridor to school and the park, and it was through the Neighborhood Store that Hayti gave Mozella the nickname “Mrs. Mac.” Mrs. McLaughlin also became a founding member of the Fayetteville Street Corridor Planning Group. At 89, she renovated this property to provide more housing for Hayti residents and commercial space for neighbors’ business ventures.

1619 Fayetteville Street was also the original location of Samuel D. Dillard, Sr.’s grocery store, which evolved into Dillard’s Bar-B-Q. S.D. 

Dillard, Sr. grew up in Bolivar County, Mississippi, and graduated from Tuskegee University. In 1938, Dillard Sr. moved to Durham, NC, as an independent chicken farmer. However, after his farming business folded, he worked for the American Tobacco Company. Around this time, he met his future wife, Geneva Dillard, who was attending North Carolina College (now NCCU). She was a Cosmetology instructor, earning her degree at the historic Deshazor’s Beauty College, and an avid member of the Les Fleur Garden Club. In 1945, S.D. Dillard, Sr., left the American Tobacco Company and reattempted owning a business, this time opening the first Black supermarket in Durham.

Starting at 1619 Fayetteville Street, Dillard, Sr.’s grocery store moved a couple of times in the Hayti community, eventually settling down at 3921 Fayetteville Rd., where he learned and developed his trademark barbeque and established his family restaurant Dillard’s Bar-B-Q. Described by the Indy as a “Durham staple since 1953,” the Dillards served Hayti residents, as well as the Durham community at large, with delicious meals for generations until it closed in 2011.

Today Afrikikos Bistro is located in the commercial space at 1619 Fayetteville Street.

Sources: 

Carolina Times

Denise Hester (Historic Fayetteville Street Corridor Planning Group), “FAYETTEVILLE STREET PRESERVATION STORIES: Ms. Mozella McLaughlin. While history focuses on the ancestors who developed the Hayti/Fayetteville Street Corridor over a century ago, we must uplift those who have made more recent contributions to the uplift of our historic community…” Facebook, January 29, 2023, https://www.facebook.com/groups/386326459461258/posts/735405794553321/

Emily Wallace, “Dillard’s Bar-B-Q Closes Its Doors,” las modified March 18, 2011, https://indyweek.com/news/culture/food/dillard-s-bar-b-q-closes-doors/. 

“St. Titus Episcopal celebrates McLaughlin’s 100th birthday,” Triangle Tribune (Durham, North Carolina), March 23, 2017, https://wilsontempleumc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Mozelle-McLaughlin-1.pdf.