MORRIS STREET

Morris Street extends three blocks northward from Five Points to the old Durham Bulls ballpark - the building just profiled is on the corner of Morris Street. It was a primarily residential street, even inside the current Loop, until mid-20th century. It was lined with larger houses, many belonging to employees of the tobacco companies.

There are only 3 houses left on Morris Street, all at the northern end (near the old ballpark). Like areas just east of downtown, the commercialization of this area began early - as the city boomed in the era between 1890 and 1940, and streetcar travel, followed by car travel, began to reverse the early economic settlement pattern. Prior to these forms of travel, the wealthiest residents lived as close to their workplace/downtown as possible, and poorer residents were on the periphery, where they had to walk longer distances to work.

Morris Street goes left-to-right in this picture (south-to-north), and the photographer was facing west. On the west side of the street (facing the viewer) is the Salvation Army (two story brick structure) followed by several residences. On the east side of the street, at the right edge of the picture is the (now-former) City Hall building.

A present-day picture of Morris Street, taken from a spot north of the previous picture, looking west-southwest. The Salvation Army building and the houses on the west side of the street have all been replaced by the SouthBank building. The former City Hall is now the Durham Arts Council, on the left edge of this photograph. Houses north of Morgan Street (now the loop) have been replaced by a bank building on the west side and the parking garage I was standing on top of on the east side.

The loop itself dominates the picture. The grid pattern of Morris and Great Jones Streets (both n-s) and Morgan Street (e-w) was replaced with the wide, one-way loop road in the late 1960s and early 1970s.