DUKE PARK / DUKE PARK POOL AND BATHHOUSE
Duke Park, originally part of Brodie Duke's large landholdings, was farmed by farmer Lee Perry during the early 20th century. It was also evidently used by surrounding neighbors to surface mine coal - Durham's primary heat source prior to its usurpation by oil/gas heat in the mid-20th century.
Per Jean Anderson, the Junior League was at least in part responsible for persuading Duke to donate the land for a park sometime in the 1910s. Duke owned most of the surrounding land, and had begun plotting streets and selling off building lots, primarily to the south of the current park, between Glendale and North Roxboro prior to his death in 1919.
The residential neighborhood of Duke Park, surrounding the park itself, came into its own in the 1920s with the rise of private automobile ownership. Large period revival homes and bungalows, in particular, were developed along adjoining streets.
There is little information about the park itself during this era - because the area immediately to the north, now occupied by I-85 was a natural ravine, the park likely had no distinct northern boundary, blending with the rural landscaped that stretched north to Bragtown. Most likely, the land stayed as it had been, although it's unclear whether grazing, farming, and coal digging still went on.
In the early 1930s, though, Duke Park became one of several Durham parks that were redeveloped by the Civil Works Administration and Emergency Relief Administration of North Carolina as agents for the Federal Works Progress administration. Jean Anderson notes that "CR Wood applied for Reconstruction Finance Corporation Funds to establish five recreation centers [in city parks]" I don't know who CR Wood was.
Evidently the construction at Duke Park was opposed by some of the tony new neighbors, who were likely not digging up their own coal and grazing their cows nearby. The opposition included Richard Wright, II who lived nearby at 1429 N. Mangum, and local lawyer Basil Watkins. Per Jim Wise, the opposition claimed that the park would attract "an influx of undesirable elements." Despite 75 names on a petition and a rant about cutting down trees for swimming pools, the trash produced by visitors, and the expense of maintaining the park, the anti-park posse lost.
Marshall Spears, chairman of the recreation commission, pushed forward with the construction of a pool, tennis courts, swings, shelters, stone entrances, and a bathhouse, all completed between 1933-1935.
These facilities appear to have been extremely popular through the 1940s and 1950s. I simply stopped scanning pictures of the Duke Park pool after awhile, as it appears to have been the reliable annual harbinger of summer for the crowds to arrive at Duke Park pool. Duke Park was segregated, as all Durham Parks were, and only accessible to white people.
I was rather surprised to discover the "Duke Park Water Pageant" in existence as early as 1949. I have no idea if the present-day "Beaver Queen Pageant" organizers were aware of this history of Duke Park, but, if not, it's rather amazing.
Duke Park Water Pageant, 08.11.49.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
Duke Park Water Pageant, 08.11.49.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
Duke Park Water Pageant, 08.11.49.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
Duke Park pool opens for summer, 06.05.57
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
Duke Park pool opens for summer, 06.05.57
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
Duke Park pool opens for summer, 06.04.55
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
Duke Park pool, 08.23.56 - the headline was "Duke Park Pool with No Swimmers" - due to a polio scare.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
Duke Park pool, 06.17.57.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
Duke Park Pool, 08.09.61. I think this is probably staged. I'm putting this in primarily to show the bathhouse in the background.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
Evidently the bathhouse was renovated in 1962.
Inspecting the renovations, 06.07.62.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)
The park seems to have fallen on harder times in the late 1960s and 1970s, as did many city parks. The reaction of the white populace to the integration of parks (not specifically Duke Park, but all Durham parks) was not to embrace change. I don't know of violence or similar - but community investment in parks declined.
Per Barry Ragin, the Duke Park pool closed in 1993 due to "irremediable maintenance issues" that related to the the pool developing a leak into the underground stream below it. I always have to suspect that anything is remediable with enough money, which, granted, Durham Parks and Rec rarely has. Sometime in the early 2000s, as part of the renovation of the play equipment at Duke Park, the pool was removed, and the hole filled in with dirt.
The 1933-34 bathhouse has remained shuttered for 15 years, despite the efforts, chronicled by Barry, of the surrounding community to lease the structure from Durham Parks and Rec for a community center. It seems that DPR has a desire to raze the structure, but hasn't done so due to community opposition. So they've opted for traditional option #3 = neglect. It's the standard practice of owners in these situations - if you can wait, try to get the structure to deteriorate enough so that 1) ideally, it falls down of its own accord, 2) you can get a pliable structural engineer to sound the chicken little-esque refrain of "unsafe! unsafe!".
Which is all a shame, because Duke Park clearly has the community resources to make this a thriving community center and, by doing so, save a historic structure that helps us remember some of the things we and our elected officials did last time the economic sky was falling.
A general shot of Duke Park, looking northeast, 01.17.09
Former Duke Park pool and boarded-up bathhouse, 01.17.09
Find this spot on a Google Map.
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17 comments:
CR Wood was a former director of DPR. I have the history of the department on hard copy if your interested.
I remember going to that park with my teen-aged siblings a couple of times in the late 60s when I was very young. I don't remember if there was anything tangible to back her fears, but when my mother found out we were going there she threw a fit and forbid it. She said the area was "dangerous" and "bad". I've no idea why she thought that, but she seemed to be under the impression that it was not a safe neighborhood at that time. Of course most of us who lived in the county felt anything downtown (or close to it) was not "safe."
My sister told me that a child once was decapitated when s/he fell from the old hand-push go-round (I don't know the proper name for it). Again, I was too young at the time to know if that is true or not.
Wow, some very cool photos. Thanks so much for sharing!
Having resided in Duke Park for a while, I've long had a theory that a deposit of "Pink Kryptonite" was buried somewhere near the Markham/Glendale intersection. After having reviewed your photos, perhaps the Kryptonite was actually closer to the park proper, and unearthed sometime before 1949? Perhaps the earlier coal mining exposed it. ;)
Gary, I regularly read and appreciate the info in your blog -- and I'm a structural engineer. I hope I speak for everyone in the profession when I say that protecting the public is the first thing I am sworn to do. Not the contractor or owner or preservationist, the Public. If I am called to render an opinion on a pooly maintained or unsafe structure, my opinion cannot be influenced by historical significance, politics, budget, etc.
That said, I wish you well in your efforts. I hope the business needs of the community will align with the need to restore and maintain these old buildings.
Anon
I was probably too harsh. Since engineers are trained to be risk-averse, for the reason you mention, I haven't ever found that, when the city or a demolition-minded developer brings in a structural engineer, the opinion ends up supporting (npi) the ongoing integrity of the structure. You can argue that the engineer's opinion is a calculus, unbiased by the things you mention. I don't quite believe that, and I think that the language in the conclusions tends to shade one way or another. But that's my opinion, and I'll concede the point, as I don't wish to impugn the reputations of all structural engineers. Instead I'll just say that the structural engineer's opinion is usually used to justify a pre-ordained conclusion when demolition is intended, and is treated as the only truly relevant assessment of the structure's value, rather than one facet.
GK
Great post Gary, thanks.
Seeing those pictures of outdoor pools was fantastic. (Even on a cold winter day.)
Living in the Southeast, outdoor pools are in much demand to "beat the heat" for 5 months of the year. It is a shame the outdoor public pool is not something that city parks and rec supports.
Indoor aquatic centers can be used 12 months of the year, and I'm sure are advantageous for the athletic swimmers of the community, but for the kids and adults who just want to have some fun in the sun, the indoor pools don't offer much.
Seems unlikely to happen but I'd prefer to see any new pools the city builds to be outdoor ones.
Until then I guess we have to be content sneaking into the private pools of certain neighborhoods and complexes. (and of course the Eno has some nice spots).
Gary - thanks so much for this. Sorry i wasn't able to comment earlier, been in DC for the inauguration.
Just so everyone's clear, we (meaning both Duke Park Neighborhood Association and Duke Park Preservation Initiative) have had a number of folks evaluate the bathhouse for potential renovations. Nobody has thrown up a red flag saying the building is beyond saving. It's clearly a worthwhile project, especially since our latest estimate from parks and rec to demolish the building and replace it with a minimalist cinder block bathroom structure is in the $200K vicinity. It probably wouldn't cost much more than that to renovate the structure, and since DPPI is a 501(c)3 corp, it's able to receive both tax deductible cash donations and in-kind donations to complete the project.
When the Beaver Lodge first approached Mr Bain, the Duke Park caretaker, about the first Beaver Queen Pageant he shared many stories about festive pool events. One I enjoyed hearing told of a cable that was rigged across the pool, a UFO type structure was attached to it carrying a "beauty queen" who was then dropped into the pool. Wish you could find a picture of that.
I love the picture you posted of the swimsuit beauties. The current Beaver Queen Pageant is billed as Beaver Drag for the Entire Family. Contestants are judged on the quality of their tails and their Wetland Ready Wear. Drag pageants seem quite the tradition in Duke Park.
Save the Date---June 6, 2009. This year's theme will honor the spirit and anniversary of Woodstock--WoodStick
Peace, Love, Beaver
I recall visiting Duke Park on occasion a youngster in the late 1960's to early 1970's for church picnics and family outings. I remember lots of hardwood trees with acorns everywhere, and the most extensive facilities of any park we'd visit in Durham, including a large picnic shelter and lots of playground equipment, featuring a really cool long sliding board.
I also remember standing at the edge of the hill on which Duke Park rests and overlooking the interstate with its steady stream of passing cars, and the goings on along Avondale and Roxboro streets beyond the highway, which was a memorable experience. Like the present day, Durham was a heavily wooded area which offered few natural overlooks.
Just beyond the interstate on Avondale, one could see the Big Boy restaurant with its statue of Bob out front. I found the statue to be equally weird and compelling. Come to think of it, I still do.
You're in my neighborhood now. God Bless your soul. You're doing good here, keep it up.
I remember that Big Boy statue getting stolen a lot and ending up just about everywhere in town at one time or another! You could almost start a whole new blog between where the Big Boy ended up and how the Duke statue statue on the main quad has been garbed over the years.
Kids growing up in the 1930s could take Red Cross-sponsored swimming lessons at Duke Park pool. Those of us who didn't have a dime to swim recreationally would 'learn' to swim every summer. The instructors recognized us, but didn't object. If memory serves, lessons were given in the morning before the pool opened to the public.
I hope you will attend the Beaver Queen Pageant. Beaver Lodge Local 1504 returns pageantry and community quirkiness to the old pool site. Who knows what will happen at the pageant--scandal, improv, rain, heat, urban wildlife running amock..? Join us in creating another Durham story.
I'll have a VIB All Access Pass for you and two tickets to the After Party.
Marty Jarrell is handling the VIB area, see her near the judge table if I don't find you.
--
Peace, Love, Beaver,
kaferine de nerve
wwww,beaverlodgelocal1504.org
Seems like the guy 'saving' the girl swimmer was named C. B. Davis. He was a heck of a diver off the one meter spring board and inspired several of us to enjoy the sport.
The polio scar brings back a memory. More strongly, though, is the picture from 1957. Several of us spent almost every day there that summer - sometimes for the morning and afternoon session.
The pageants and clowning around were exciting times to sit with Mom, beyond the fence in the bleachers on a summer night with the cicadas going crazy among the human sounds of commotion.
I spent many a summer day swimming in the Duke Park kiddie pool and the big pool, from the time I was about five years old and lived in old North Durham to the days when I "graduated" to the big pool and we lived on Washington Street at Englewood Avenue. I remember we would rent wire baskets to store our clothes in and would pin the big safety pins to our bathing suits. Pins came with a metal disk with the basket number on them. Still have movie film (now copied to video tape) of my sisters and me in that kiddie pool.
Glenda Wolff, Durham Native
The photo label Duke Park Pool 6-17-57...I believe is dated incorrectly. The happy little boy in the front right corner is my brother "Eric Nicholson" and he was born 7-23-57...so he was probably 10 in that photo and it should have been 1967. I learned to swim in that pool and so did my kids. I was born in 61 and my sons were born in 90 and 92. I had great times at Duke park. Easter Egg Hunts, learning to Swim, kissing my first boyfriend, stolling my babies and have birthday parties at the shelter. I loved that neighborhood and park...going on 5 decades this year.
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