Service Station

The Sinclair gas station near Rigsbee and Morgan, 1940. Today's post is a historic illustration of an architectural type that I've advocated many times before - the liner building. The large Brick Star warehouse at Morgan and Rigsbee was 'square' to Rigsbee St., where Morgan St. curved to the south as it headed east away from Rigsbee. This formed a...

The east side of the 300 block of McMannen Street was developed as a residential area to the east of the Blackwell Factory. McMannen Street, 1881. The rise of the Austin-Heaton Flour Company and Kramer Tobacco company increased the commercial pressure on this section. The corner of Cora and McMannen was, by the 1890s, inhabited by MA Angier, a prominent figure in multiple early Durham endeavors.

Like the Harris Service Station/Hotel Gas and Storage across the street, the tiny 'block' between Orange St. and N. Rigsbee skipped the 1910s-1920s mercantile commercialization and went straight to the car culture. Prior to the late 1920s/early 1930s, this spot was a boarding house. (Courtesy Duke Archives) Looking north-northwest, 1924. The First...

The northwest corner of East Chapel Hill St. and Roney Sts. was vacant land during the late 1910s and early 1920s - commercial masonry storefronts that filled in along the block face to the west didn't make it down this far, for whatever reason. A filling station was built on the corner in the late 1920s - which was a Pure Oil station by the 1940s. Looking west, 1945 (Courtesy Herald-Sun) This station was remodeled by the 1950s.

The remainder of the south side of the 500 block of Morgan St. evolved from a primarily residential area during the late 1800s to a commercial strip by the late 1920s. The block face, aside from the Jones Warehouse, contained a residence and the Gospel Tabernacle in the early 1920s Looking west from Trust building - Gospel Tabernacle is the white...

Esso station, north side of the 400 block of West Chapel Hill St., looking north-northeast, 1963. (Durham County Library) A view of the north side of the 400 block of West Chapel Hill St. shows several large houses. Looking northwest from near the intersection of West Chapel Hill St. and Pettigrew, 1910s-1920s. (Courtesy Duke Archives) Notice that...

East Chapel Hill Street was not the retail street that Main was, but had more service-oriented businesses. The two buildings with frontage on Chapel Hill Street were automobile service-oriented from the early 20th century. Southeast corner of Chapel Hill Street and Corcoran, ~1920. Looking south from Chapel Hill street at the corner building...