Orange Street

Orange Street is one of the older street names in Durham, most likely deriving from the original county name (Durham was originally located in Orange County, and Durham County was originally part of Orange and Wake Counties.) The 1884 Sanborn map shows Orange Street proceeding some distance north from the center of town into the farmland north of East Chapel Hill (née Green) Street. By 1888, though, it had taken on its later one-block length.

Around 1970, when such things were in vogue, Orange Street was turned into a semi-pedestrian mall. In typical Durham fashion, though, a jumble of 'good' ideas were lumped together to create something neither here-nor-there. Half the street was demolished, and a parking deck/lot were constructed on the entire east side. The street was made brick and planter-y, but not closed to traffic entirely.

I'm told 90% of people can't see buildings and landscape how they could be rather than how they are. If you're in the 90%, you should take my word for it that Orange Street could be a cool dense little district again someday if 1) the east side was reconstructed with buildings and 2) they'd make some sense out of what the street is used for.

119-123 Orange St.

Orange St. was, as the name implies, once a street - with older commercial structures along the western side of the street. Above, a fuzzy view of the western facades of Orange St. - behind First Baptist Church, 1924. Below, the view from December 1963, looking northwest on Orange St. Only a portion of 111-113-115 is visible on the left, but the...
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104 West Parrish Street

The building at 104 West Parrish St. was constructed in 1908. West Parrish from Orange St., looking northwest, 1922. A bird's-eye view of Parrish Street, looking northwest, 1924. (Courtesy Duke Archives) 106 West Parrish, the brick building on the northwest corner of Orange St. and West Parrish, was built by William P. Clements for his office...
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125 Orange St.

Looking southwest from the Post Office Site, 1934. (Courtesy Durham County Library) 125 Orange St. was a small commercial establishment just to the north of Markham Jones "retail grocers". By mid-century, it has become the "Duke Sport Shop." Think this was before Duke cracked down on their trademark? Looking northwest, 1963. Sometime in the late...
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111-115 Orange St.

Orange St. was, as the name implies, once a street - with older commercial structures along the western side of the street. Above, a fuzzy view of the western facades of Orange St. - behind First Baptist Church, 1924. Below, the view from December 1963, looking northwest on Orange St. Only a portion of 111-113-115 is visible on the left, but the...
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322 East Chapel Hill St.

The small commercial building at the southwest corner of Orange St. and East Chapel Hill St. (322 East Chapel Hill St.) was constructed in the mid-1920s. I haven't had time to make it to the old city directories to find out some of the early tenants. The shot below is not the best, as the front facade is partially obscured, but it is taken during...
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