McDougald Terrace

35.974707, -78.890408

East Lawson Street
Durham
NC
Cross Street
Sima Street
Year built
1954
Architects/Designers
Carr, George Watts Sr.
Construction type
Brick
Masonry
Neighborhood
Southern Durham
Use
Apartment Building
Public Housing
Residence
Building Type
Government
Residential
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macdougald_aerial_1959_0.jpg

McDougald Terrace was developed on vacant land east of Hayti and NCCU as part of large-scale public housing development in Durham, funded and authorized by the Housing Act of 1949. Two major, racially-segregated projects were developed in the early 1950s - Few Gardens, for white residents, McDougald Terrace, for African-American residents.

macdougald_before_1.jpg

Looking northeast from NCCU towards the Durham Cotton Mfg Co buildings - the tree-filled area in between would become McDougald Terrace

macdougald_before_2.jpg

From near Ellis Road, looking west-northwest, pre-McDougald Terrace, late 1940s.

Few Gardens was completed in 1952-53, and McDougald Terrace in 1954.

MacDougald_pcard.jpg

Similar view to the east-looking bird's eye above, with a new McDougald Terrace in the background.

macdougald_aerial_1959_0.jpg

1959 aerial

macdougald_040712.jpg

McDougald Terrace, 04.07.12 (looking north from East Lawson).

Comments

Submitted by staravengers on Mon, 6/30/2014 - 4:14pm

i did not know that......!!!

Submitted by AdamL-B on Sun, 9/13/2026 - 9:36am

At the time of construction, this portion of E Lawson Street would have been called Braswell Street, according to public works maps of the time. 

Submitted by AdamL-B on Mon, 9/14/2026 - 9:42am

Around the time that Mcdougald Terrace was built, E Lawson street would have Braswell Street. The name was changed sometime between 1957 and 1967.
Also, Durham Plat Book 9, p. 107 lists Lakeland St. as Cagle Avenue. Meanwhile the 1925 department of public works map lists it as Cagle Street. The name was changed by the time of the publication of the 1930s public works map. 

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