BRODIE DUKE WAREHOUSE
Looking northwest, 1925. The Brodie Duke warehouse is located directly behind the water tower.
(Courtesy Duke Rare Book and Manuscript Collection)
In 1878, Brodie Duke constructed what is now the oldest warehouse remaining in Durham. Duke has come to Durham in 1869 to set up his tobacco manufacturing business. He constructed a frame building on West Main St. for tobacco production, but, with the growth of his business, needed separate warehousing space. Brodie joined the remaining Duke brothers and his father in business in the late 1870s - it's likely that this warehouse became part of the Duke of Durham tobacco business at the same time.
Brodie built his house ~2 blocks away on a large parcel of land, now occupied by the Durham School of the Arts.
The warehouse became part of the American Tobacco Company, but split with the Liggett and Myers portion of the company after the breakup of the Trust, and was utilized as a tobacco factory rather than a warehouse.
By the 1930s, a north-south oriented addition was built on the south face of the warehouse.
Bird's Eye view, looking southwest, 1930s.
(Courtesy Duke Rare Book and Manuscript Collection)
The warehouse remained in operation throughout the middle of the 20th century.
View of the warehouse behind street sweepers, 05.04.55.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
The east end of the warehouse, 11.20.63.
Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
In 2000, Measurement, Inc. purchased the warehouse and renovated the building (plus addition) for office use.
Looking southwest, November 2007.
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1 comment:
I worked at Measurement for a time. They did a good job on the restoration/preservation of the Brodie. The third level only has a few partitions, most of it is two large rooms where a hundred or more people can sit at tables and grade standardized tests. The floors look to be original wood and the ceiling framework on the top floor is exposed, probably exactly like it was when it was a warehouse. The first and second are redesigned into regular office looking setups ala American Tobacco. Nice to see what it used to look like.
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