2004 Fayetteville Street- Hattie E. Shepard House

From Preservation Durham Historic Preservation Application

Numerous members of the Shepard family, one of the most notable families in Durham’s history, owned and lived in 2004 Fayetteville. Annie Day Shepard was the first owner of the home and would eventually co-own the home with her husband, James E. Shepard. Annie and James never lived in 2004 Fayetteville, but James’ mother, Hattie E. Shepard, did. Hattie was born in Hillsboro, North Carolina, in 1858. She eventually attended the Hampton Institute and would go on to be an educator.

Hattie and her husband Reverand Augustus Shepard, were crucial figures in the operation of White Rock Baptist Church. Rev. Shepard was a pastor at White Rock Baptist during the early twentieth century, and Hattie was a crucial leader of numerous women’s clubs and organizations with the church. Rev. Augustus Shepard served as the White Rock Baptist Church pastor from 1901 until he died in 1911. Hattie was also involved with the church until she died in 1947. One of her most prominent contributions to the church was her work with the Women’s Missionary Society. Hattie was the president of the White Rock Baptist missionary society for over 40 years and was the third overall president of the Durham County Missionary Union, serving in that position for three years. For her contributions to the missionary societies, Hattie was deemed, “...the mother of home and foreign missionary activities in this city and State.”

Hattie and Rev. Shepard had seven children, including James E. Shepard, founder of what is now North Carolina Central University. Two of their daughters, Benena S. Kerr and Theresa L. Shepard, both lived in 2004 Fayetteville with their mother until their respective deaths in 1957 and 1960. Benena and Theresa were both born in Raleigh, North Carolina, but were young children when they moved to Durham with their family. Both women attended Shaw University, as many of the people in their family, including their father and multiple other siblings, did. Theresa worked as a clerk at North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, where she retired.

Benena married Dr. Charles Kerr in 1917. They moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where she lived until 1937. She returned to Durham in 1937, where she joined her mother and sister at 2004 Fayetteville. When Benena moved back to Durham, she began working at her brother’s university as Assistant Supervisor of the Canteen, a campus store. Just like her mother and sister, Benena lived in the home until her passing.

As of 2026, the home is in good, stable condition.

Sources: 

André Vann, “From a Dream to New Horizons,” NCCU News, April 22, 2020, https://www.nccu.edu/news/dream-new-horizons.

 Durham County Missionary Union: 2014-2015 Directory and Information Booklet, (Durham County: Durham County Missionary Union, 2014), 4.

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Photogragh taken by Heather Slane, National Historic Register Submission, December 2017

This one-and-a-half-story, side-gabled bungalow is two bays wide and triple-pile with a wide, front-gabled dormer centered on the façade. The house has vinyl siding, six-over-one wood-sash windows, and flush eaves on the side elevations. A replacement door on the left (south) end of the façade is sheltered by a full-width, engaged, shed-roofed porch supported by tapered wood posts on brick piers with an original matchstick railing between the piers. The gabled dormer has a group of four windows, a rectangular vent in the gable, exposed rafter tails, and knee brackets. There is an exterior brick chimney on the right (north) elevation that is flanked by small windows and to its rear is a projecting shed-roofed bay with a triple window. There is a single window in the left gable and paired windows in the right gable, each flanked by smaller four-light windows. There is a wood deck at the rear and a concrete retaining wall at the front sidewalk. County tax records date the house to 1930 and the earliest known occupant is Hattie W. Shepard in 1935.

Hattie W. Shepard was the mother of Dr. James E. Shepard, the founder of National Religious Training School and Chautauqua, later North Carolina College and eventually renamed North Carolina Central University. She was married to Reverend Augustus Shepard, the pastor of White Rock Baptist Church in Durham and co-founder of the Central Children’s Home in Oxford, NC.

According to deed and tax records, James E. Shepard and his wife, Annie DayShepard owned this lot on February 21, 1928 and transferred the title to Hattie W. Shepard on October 1. 1928.  The 1932 City Directory shows Hattie Shepard as the occupant of the house.  

Hattie W. Shepard died in 1947 and the house remained  in the Shepard family until May 8, 2020, according to tax records, when it was sold to Zelles Real Estate Solutions, LLC on May 8, 2020.  On June 16, 2020, Delta Zeta Sigma Chapter bought thehome from Zelles Real Estate Solutions, LLC according to county deed records and still owns the property.