West Pettigrew Street

Durham Station / Freight & Car Train Depot

Original 1854 NC railroad survey, showing the future location of Durham's Station (Courtesy David Southern/Steve Rankin)

305 West Pettigrew / Peabody Drug Company

Peabody Drug Co, looking southwest, 1965. (Courtesy Durham County Library) 305 West Pettigrew was initially one of the small houses built just east of the Blackwell factory in the 1880s. In 1926, this house was torn down for a new building for the Peabody Drug Co., which had started its life in the 100 block of East Peabody Street in 1907. The new...

The Blue Light / Sam's Quik Shop

One of the classic "drive-ins" of the 1950s, Sam's catered to high school and college students; by the 90s-00s, it had transformed multiple times, becoming primarily known in the 00s-10s as a source for an incredibly diverse beer selection.

Angier-Satterfield-Kreps House / Center for Documentary Studies

CORRECTION: John Angier's proper name was Johnathan C. Angier and he married Lida Duke, daughter of John Taylor Duke, Washington Duke's brother. All references to Lyla Duke Angier should read Lida Duke Angier. Thank you, Jonathan C. Angier IV, great-grandson of Johnathan C. Angier Sr. The first "h" in Johnathan, was dropped in my name.

Corner W. Pettgrew And Carr St. - First Julian Carr House?

(Fragment of panoramic photo taken for a 1926 Chamber of Commerce booklet, scanned by Digital Durham.) The house in the center of the top photo and at the right edge of the above picture, two stories and with two chimneys, presents an interesting conundrum - and that is, whether or not it was Julian Carr's first house when he first moved to Durham...

Cedar Hill Cemetery Aka Erwin Mills Cemetery

The Erwin Mills Cemetery, now the Cedar Mills Cemetery, was established by Erwin Mills in 1893 as a cemetery for employees who could not afford burial elsewhere.

Jesse Harper Erwin House - Sunnyside

entire house was not converted to apts. only the second floor was converted. Mr. Erwin Sr. (wife predeceased him) lived on the maiin floor with his daughter (Mrs. Mary Michie) and granddaughter until his death. His daughter continued to live there until the property was sold about 1970 with the Poe-Roberts house. another daughter lived in the little house behind the big house also until this time.

Old Bull Building - Blackwell's Bull Durham / American Tobacco Company

The oldest building remaining in downtown Durham as of 2011, the Old Bull building remains an impressive structure after 130+ years. Its hard to overstate how impressive it must have been in the context of a still-small town full of small frame buildings. Demand was booming when John Green died and William Blackwell purchased his interest in the...

Reams Warehouse

The first tobacco auction warehouse in Durham- run by Henry Reams, with auctions by EJ Parrish

Cary Lumber Company

The Cary Lumber Company was established in 1894 and moved to Durham ~1900, originally locating at 101-107 West Chapel Hill St. at Five Points. In 1913, the company moved to the 'edge of town' near Milton Avenue and the railroad tracks to "get out of the congested area." The company built a sizable complex of buildings, including a mill and large...