Mystery Photo - 06.30.09

(Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection)

ERWIN COTTON MILL COMPANY STORE / WEST DURHAM POST OFFICE

1913 Map showing the Company Store (next to the reservoir and denoted by the "S") with the small post office located to the north of the building.
(Copyright Sanborn Map Company)

The Erwin Mills Company Store was constructed contemporaneously with the mill in 1892. As the name implies, the store provided a place where employees could purchase groceries and other goods. Typically in company stores, although I don't know the specifics regarding the Erwin Mill store, employees could purchase on credit against future earnings. The West Durham Post Office was established in a smaller structure immediately to the north of the store building.

It appears from some oral histories that the generation working in the mills by the 1930s-1950s had no memory of buying at the company store, although their parents had. I suspect that as the commercial district on Ninth Street grew and prospered, the company store became obsolete - perhaps by the 1920s.

During the first decades of the 20th century, the company store building evidently also served as the West Durham trolley stop, per one oral history. (From downtown, the trolley came to West Durham via West Main St., taking a right at Ninth Street, a right at Perry Street, and a left at Broad Street.)


Aerial showing the company store/post office at the corner of West Main and Ninth Street, 1950s.

By mid-century, the post office has taken over the entire building. It appears to have been remodeled for this purpose during the 1920s-1930s. Various groups appear to have rented the 2nd story of the building - by 1959, the Knights of Pythias used it as meeting space.


West Durham Post Office, looking south (with Knights of Pythias lodge on the second floor,) 1959.
(Courtesy Bob Blake)


West Durham Post Office, 1961. The windows/brickwork on the east, south, and west faces appears more typical of 1920s-1930s versus that on the north, which resembles that of the mill.
(Courtesy Duke Rare Book and Manuscript Collection)

A new West Durham post office was constructed in 1961, just to the north of the original. The post office / company store was demolished that same year.


Demolition of the West Durham Post Office.
(Courtesy Duke Rare Book and Manuscript Collection)

You can see in the background of this picture the then-new, replacement West Durham Post Office, located ~150 feet north of the older building.


New West Durham Post Office, 10.21.61. Note how close the structures on Ninth Street once were to the "Cloth Building."

I'm not sure if anything replaced the old post office / company store on the corner immediately thereafter - my guess is, given the odd grade and small amount of room between the former reservoir and the street, that it remained empty. By the 1980s, the Erwin Square redevelopment had regraded the Mill site, and a Wachovia branch bank was constructed on the old store site (actually a bit to the west and north of the store footprint.)


Site of the original West Durham Post Office and Erwin Mills company store, looking west, 04.04.09

The 'new' West Durham Post Office was, in due time, abandoned as well. I'm not sure when this occurred, but the opening of the can-it-be-any-more-isolated Kangaroo St. branch was likely the cause. It now houses a store that sells Duke-related merchandise, and it has managed to succeed despite Duke forcing them to change their name to "Duck".



Find this spot on a Google Map.


36.00674,-78.922528

Cool new architectural resource

Folks over at NC State, including Catherine Bishir, author of the great "North Carolina Architecture" book have put together a great new architecture resource which catalogs biographies and works of architects that have worked in North Carolina. It's an impressive endeavor that I am sure that they will be adding to for awhile.

ERWIN COTTON MILLS (MILL NO.1 AND MILL NO. 4)

Erwin Mill No. 1 and office building, early 20th century
(Courtesy John Schelp)

Julian Carr's success with Durham's first textile manufacturing plant, the Durham Cotton Manufacturing Company, which returned 20-30% net profit in its first 6 years, showed the viability of the industry in Durham and, more broadly, the south.

The Dukes, who had followed Carr's lead 10 years earlier - establishing W Duke and Sons tobacco Co. in the wake of Carr's success with Blackwell's Bull Durham - sought to repeat the model in the textile field. Carr had proved the market; the Dukes would seek to build it better and more profitably.

George Watts and Ben Duke recruited William A. Erwin from Burke County, where he had grown up on the family plantation of Bellevue near Morganton as part of the Holt textile family, purportedly on the recommendation of Southgate Jones. Erwin was 36 years old when he came to Durham, but not inexperienced; for the previous ten years, he had been treasurer and general manager of the EM Holt Plaid Mills in Burlington. Erwin confidently told Ben Duke that he could derive 40% net profit from the business they were to establish. Erwin invested $40,000 in the venture, while Ben Duke and George Watts invested $85,000.

The group sought additional investment from northeastern textile manufacturers, who were disinterested. Duke and Watts provided an additional $75,000 in capital to start the venture. Duke was emotionally invested in the success of the project as well - terming it one of [the Dukes'] "pet enterprises."

Repeated in every single source referenced by me is the same anecdote regarding the naming of the mill after Erwin. I'll repeat it despite the fact that it sounds made-up-after-the-fact to me. After some discussion of what to name the new venture, BN Duke remarked "Let us name it for this young man; then if it fails the onus will be upon him; and if it succeeds, it will be to his glory." So it was that the venture became the Erwin Cotton Mill.

Construction began in the Fall of 1892; the company bought several adjacent tracts of land in West Durham and built a 75 x 347 foot, two-story factory, a picker building, dyehouse, boiler room, engine house, and office building. The company began the construction of residences to the west, north, and east of the textile factory.

The factory began by producing muslin, used for tobacco bags, but, at Erwin's directive, began to produce denim, which, up to that time, had not been produced in southern textile factories. The mill's production grew rapidly, almost tripling the following year, thereby becoming the textile mill with the highest production in Durham. By 1895, the factory had 375 workers working on 11,000 spindles and 360 looms to produce fine muslin, chambrays, camlets, and denims. By the next year, the company had 1000 workers, 25,000 spindles, and 1000 looms. Erwin Mill became one of the largest denim producers in the country.


The "Irwin Cotton Mills" - looking north
(Courtesy Dave Piatt)

Erwin was secretary-treasurer of the company, the title bestowed upon the chief operating officer. He recruited Edward K. Powe, an executive at the Altamahaw Cotton Mill in Alamance County, to be plant manager. Erwin set out to build a self-contained community as well as a factory; a company store was established at West Main and Ninth Street [which contained a post office], a meeting hall was built, and, by 1900, 440 houses had been built in the area around the mill.

One the primary 'advantages' that a southern textile mill had over the well-established northern mills was southern poverty, and the resultant ability to pay workers low wages. Per Robert Durden, in 1890, a "skilled man" received average daily wages of $1.00 to $2.50, a "skilled woman" 40 cents to $1.00, and children from 20 to 50 cents. Yes, child labor was alive and well during this era, and a high percentage of factory workers were women and children. In the progressive cost calculus of Richard Wright, coal cost $3.15 to $3.25 a ton, and "girls could be had from $2.50 to $4.00 a week." Erwin mills would, during the 1890s, run 66 hours a week and employ children older than 12. By the early 20th century, the large northeastern textile manufacturers had started moving their operations southward to utilize these 'advantages.'

Success of the venture necessitated expansion in relatively short order; in 1898, the original mill building was expanded to twice its original size by lengthening the building to the north. The original two end towers became the south and middle towers, and a third tower was added to the north end. An addition was added to the rear (north side) of the office building, and its cupola was removed.

In 1899, the Pearl Mill, a Brodie Duke venture came under the management of Erwin as well (it had been reorganized by the other Duke brothers and Watts in 1895 following one of Brodie's financial reversals.)

The success of the Erwin Cotton Mill sparked a period of expansion. Mill No. 2 was constructed on the Cape Fear River, beginning in 1902 - the associated mill town would be called Duke, but later renamed Erwin so as not to evoke confusion with Duke University. Mill No. 3 was constructed in Cooleemee during 1901-1906.

The Erwin Cotton Mills company was financially successful venture; in 1904 the board of directors declared a stock dividend of 200%, and the Erwin announced a net profit of $215,000 - a $30,000 increase from the prior year.

In the early decades of the 20th century, workers began to prove harder to attract than during the repeated economic depressions of the 1890s; Erwin decreased work hours to 62 hrs 40min a week in Durham to help retain and attract labor. Contraction of the textile market after the Spanish-American war did not help matters. Sales continued to decline significantly during the latter 00s; Erwin and Ben Duke organized agents to sell Erwin textiles in Asia in hopes of opening new markets. Duke and Erwin pushed hard for increasing protective tariffs on imported textiles, which did not succeed. In 1913, the Congress reduced tariffs on imported goods from previously high levels. However, the macroeconomic climate appeared to be improving to a point that the company could succeed in a reduced-tariff market, and profits once again grew during the 1910s.

By 1907, a cotton storage house and several brick structures for "beaming and slashing" had been added to mill no. 1.

When Erwin announced that the company would expand to a fourth mill, he would not state where the mill would be located - he teased the city of Durham with the notion that the mill would be constructed in Durham, but refused to commit to doing so. Durham had designs on the incorporation of West Durham into the municipal fold, but Erwin wanted none of it; West Durham was a mill town, and his mill town at that. When Erwin said that the mill would be located in the city that "offered the best advantages" Durham backed away from annexation. Mill No. 4 was built along Mulberry St. immediately to the west of mill No. 1 in 1909.


Erwin Mill No. 4, looking northwest from Mulberry St., 1910s.
(Courtesy Duke RBMC - Digitized by Digital Durham)


Full panoramic shot of Mills No.1 and No.4, looking north from Mulberry St., 1910s
(Courtesy Duke RBMC - Digitized by Digital Durham)


Part of Mill No. 4, and the mill village stretching westward, 1910s.
(Courtesy John Schelp)

It didn't take terribly long after the establishment of Durham's tobacco and textile factories for initial talk of unionization to take hold—the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor, founded in Philadelphia in 1869, had five assemblies in Durham by 1888. In 1900, a union organizer reportedly managed to sign up 191 workers at the Erwin Mill; the reasoning was to try to establish a mutual aid fund (the precursor to health insurance, which typically also provided death benefits) that Erwin had been unwilling to provide or meet with them about. Once the unionized people were on their knees from lost wages, Erwin made a show of 'taking them back' and alleviating their distress. People would be helped / charity would be given, but on Erwin's terms.

Labor conditions would begin to change slightly by 1913, when night work was restricted to 7-9pm and 1916, when the minimum age for employment was raised to 14.


Erwin Mill, 1913.

Erwin, not infrequently referred to as 'Pa' Erwin, truly acted the part of the father figure in West Durham, and the flip side to his paternalistic control of the lives of mill workers was a genuine concern for the well-being of his community. He offered 11 weeks of free night school to workers, and financially supported clubs, libraries, and nurseries for the workers. He repeatedly referred to the employees of the mill as "my people" and, per multiple anecdotes, seemingly knew every worker by name. He freely supported churches and community organizations. Failure to live by his standards, though, could exact harsh penalties. Erwin would ride his bicycle around the neighborhood to ensure that residents adhered to a 10pm 'lights-out' rule. Arrests for public intoxication were grounds for dimissal from the mill, and loss of housing. Various other moral transgressions could result in similar penalties. Many of those shunned often went to live in 'Monkey Bottom' - the low ground to the southwest of Erwin Road and West Pettigrew between Swift and Oregon Sts. (now Erwin Field.)


Mill No. 1, 1920s
(Courtesy Durham County Library)

The construction of Erwin Auditorium in 1922 provided recreation facilities for the community, as did the adjacent Erwin Park and Erwin Field one block away. A zoo, playground, and tennis courts accompanied Erwin Auditorium; community events in and around the auditorium were frequent.

Control of the company over the mill village began to slip by the mid 1920s. Erwin's opposition to the annexation of West Durham could not hold, and the city incorporated the village into the city in 1925. Increases in factory mechanization led to a faster and faster pace of work for employees, who struggled to keep up with the pace of the machines. Dissatisfaction with working conditions created fertile territory for union activity to gain greater traction at Erwin Mill. National legislation during the New Deal would lead to protection of workers' right to organize, established a 25 cent/hr minimum wage, 40 hour work week, and control of child labor.


Erwin Mill No. 1, office building, and cloth and shipping buildings, looking west-northwest from near 9th Street, 1920s.
(Courtesy Durham County Library)

By the early 1930s, Erwin had become ill with cancer; he died in 1932. He was succeeded by KP Lewis. To Lewis, Erwin had written in 1926:

"I urge upon you to keep in mind that we cannot let go the cordial enterprising spirit which it has cost us much to establish in our villages and in the hearts and minds of those serving our Company in a responsible way, for the spirit and soul of our business is the life of our business and has roots deeper in same than what we call 'policy'. We must treat everybody right, but must keep in mind that our stockholders come first."

Hanging onto the old 'cordial enterprising spirit' would be a challenge for Lewis, as putting the stockholders' demands for greater output first had caused dissension in the ranks, as demonstrated by increasing unionization. Tobacco workers in the city had begun to organize during the 1930s as well, as had building trades in Durham. In March 1934, a union meeting was held at "West Durham High School" - KP Lewis utilized spies to gain information about the organization attempts of his employees. Dropping wages (a 63.5 drop between 1920 and 1934) had helped foment workers' complaints. Management felt that the dissatisfaction was being sown by so-called 'flying squadrons' - union leaders from elsewhere who would come to communities and "try to disrupt [their] operations."

Increasing unionization of employees and dissatisfaction with working conditions and wages led to a general strike of thousands of textile employees throughout the southeast begining on labor day - September 3, 1934. Per the N&O several hundred striking Erwin Mills workers met to form their protest at the Carolina Theater and marched down West Main St. to Erwin mill, where they confronted president KP Lewis over better working conditions. In total, 5200 workers in Durham from Golden Belt, Durham Hosiery Mill No. 1, the Durham Cotton Manufacturing Company, and Erwin Mills participated in the strike.

At the end of the strike, though, little had changed, and union membership decreased in Durham.

By 1937, the Textile Workers Organizing Committee had unionized all five Erwin mills. Erwin Mills, and Lewis, seemed to accept the unionization of their workers with less bitterness than most industrial employers, although Lewis continued to chafe at negotiations with union representatives rather than directly with employees. Difficult working conditions changed little leading to repeated strikes over the subsequent decades.

Opinions of the working conditions at Erwin mill obviously varied widely, given all of the factors that influence people's opinion of their jobs both then and today. While some oral histories bemoan the very difficult working conditions, other histories speak to how wonderful a job at Erwin mill was compared to what else was (or wasn't) available. I quote from an oral history of James Jackson, resident of 715 15th St., from September 1938:

"I don't know of a better company to work for," he declared. "The officials here have the worker's interests at heart. They've furnished us with a fine Auditorium where a person can find free amusement if he wants to. They order coal in big lots and sell it to us without profit for $6.50 a ton. They keep the houses in good repair and rent them to us for almost nothing. I pay $1.50 a week for my four rooms, bath room, and garage. If I didn't live in a company house I'd have to pay $5 a week for a house not kept in as good condition to this.

"There are very few people working in the mill who make less than $12 a week when they work full time. Some of the help's sent out now and then as much as a day out of a week to rest but never more than that. We make standard goods -- sheets and pillow cases, you know -- and we generally have orders on hand all the time.

"I feel like people living here at this mill have as good or better chance for a decent living as most people working in stores, in offices, and such places where they don't make any more than we do and have a sight more house rent to pay.

"Of course the company don't have enough houses for all its help. There's some working in the mills here that's paying $20 a month for rent because they caint get a company house. But the majority of us has the advantage over other working people when it comes to rent."

The company continued to expand during the mid-20th century. The Pearl Mill officially became Erwin Mill No. 6 in 1932. In 1948, the Diana Mills in Wake Co. became mill No. 7 and the Stonewall Mills in Stonewall, MS became Mill No. 8.


Erwin Mills, looking southwest, 1930s

Erwin Mill was the recipient of government contracts during World War II; as with most industry, strike activity was put aside in the name of the war effort. Erwin Mill added a third shift to meet increased production demands. During the war period, the mill began to sell off its mill housing - beginning in 1942. Most of the housing north of the railroad tracks was sold off to employees in subsequent years.


Second or Third shift workers outside of the Erwin Mills office building at night, 1940s
(Courtesy the Herald-Sun)


Interior view of one of the two mills in Durham, 1940s
(Courtesy the Herald-Sun)

Immediately after the war, labor unrest began anew.


Erwin Mills strike, 1945 - looking northwest from the south side of the railroad tracks, in front of the Erwin Auditorium, towards Mill No. 4
(Courtesy the Herald-Sun)

One sign reads:

" $5
40 Hours
$2200 ?
It won't support a
Familey"

Another reads:
"1892-1945 = 53 years ........ as poor as ever."


Erwin Mill Strike, 1945, looking north at Mill No. 1
(Courtesy the Herald-Sun)

Things were somewhat different this time. In 1948, KP Lewis would resign as president of the company and became chairman of the board of directors. New President William Ruffin succeeded KP Lewis, and seemed to change the tenor of relations between the company and it workers. Ruffin had hired Duke University economist Frank T. DeVyver in 1943 (while a member of the board) to study production at the plant. DeVyver enjoyed a good relationship with the union, set up an employment office, grievance procedures, and other methods for employees to direct feedback to the company. The 1945 strike ended with management agreeing to all requests, including 65 cents/hr pay, a 45 minute lunch, and one week of vacation for employees with less than 5 years experience, 2 weeks for those with greater.



By 1951, the company owned 8 spinning and weaving mills as well as two finishing plants with over 220,000 spindles and 6000 looms which consumed 140,000 bales of cotton a year and produced 165,000,000 yards of cloth. The company employed 6400 people. The major products of the Durham mills were sheets and pillow cases, made in "three popular muslin grades." Other mills produced a variety of other types of cloth.

Another strike that same year, called for by the national union, was considerably less amicable, as workers attempted to blow up parts of the mills.


Erwin Mill Strike, 1951; looking south from Mulberry St. towards Erwin Auditorium
(Courtesy the Herald-Sun)


Striking workers marching west on Mulberry St., 1951 with the Erwin Mills office building and the West Durham Post Office in the background.
(Courtesy the Herald-Sun)

Perhaps that was the breaking point for several of the stockholders of Erwin Mills, as by 1953, they sold a controlling interest in the company to Abney Mills of South Carolina, which would use the plants for production of sheeting. The true impetus was more likely, per William Ruffin, an inheritance tax problem. John Sprunt Hill, who, as the son-in-law of George Watts owned 20% of Erwin common stock, fought ceding control of the mills to a South Carolina Company vigorously. When he lost a bid for Mary Duke Biddle's stock to Abney Mills, he tied the transfer up in court for a "protracted period." Hill was evidently opposed to changes at the mill instituted by Ruffin, although it isn't clear what he specifically objected to. Hill lost the battle.


Erwin Mills, 1950s
(Courtesy Durham County Library)


Erwin Mills and surrounding mill village, bird's eye view looking east from ~ above 15th street.
(Courtesy the Herald-Sun)


Between Mills No. 1 and No. 4, near Mulberry, looking northeast towards the back of Mill No. 1, 1951.
(Courtesy Duke University - Lewis J. McNurlen Collection)


Apparently a manger scene on Ninth Street, looking west towards the Cloth Building with Mill No. 1 behind it, 1951
(Courtesy Duke University - Lewis J. McNurlen Collection)


Looking west at the non-connected Main and Mulberry Streets in front of the mill, 12.05.51
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun)


Two Watchmen at Erwin Mills, 05.27.53.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun)

In 1962, control of the mills shifted from Abney Mills to Burlington Domestics (soon to be Burlington Industries.) Manufacturing continued during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. At some point during this era, the towers on Mill No. 1 were shortened from 4 stories to 2 stories; although one explanation given for the shortening is that the workers felt the towers too "prison-like" I find this a doubtful impetus for the considerable expense. (During this same era, one of the two towers at Golden Belt was shortened as well.)


Mill No. 4 in 1977
(Courtesy Old West Durham)


Front gate of Mill No. 4, 1977
(Courtesy Old West Durham)

In 1986, Burlington shuttered the plants and sold them to the J.P. Stevens Co., and the factory closed shortly thereafter. Clay Hamner and Terry Sanford, Jr. purchased the property from JP Stevens. Having experience with adaptive reuse in Durham from their conversions of Brightleaf Square to retail and office space in 1982 and 500 North Duke St. in condominiums in 1984, they converted Mill No. 1 and the old office building into a combination of office and residential space. However, their adaptive reuse stopped there, as they demolished all other buildings associated with the mill, including the entirety of Mill No. 4

In 1988, they began construction of a 10 story 236,000 sf office tower with retail and office space extending to the north and west of the tower. It was slated to be the first of several such developments to be built on the then-vacant space once occupied by the mill as well as 10th, 11th, and 12th streets.


Construction of the office tower and associated retail space, 02.01.89. You can notice that the Durham Freeway empties into Erwin Road toward the right lower corner of the picture.
(Courtesy The Herald Sun)

The tower would house First Union and Wachovia, respectively, as anchor tenants. It was purchased for $38 million by SCI Real Estate from Durham developers Clay Hamner and Terry Sanford, Jr. in 1999.

Today, the Mill No.1 contains a mixture of apartments and offices - including quite a few Duke offices. The original office building also contain a number of office suites. The Erwin Square tower, I believe, is a general office tower at this point. Suites around the base contain a number of retailers and restaurants.


Erwin Mill No. 1, 04.12.09.


Erwin Mill office building, 04.12.09


Similar location to panorama of Mills No. 1 and No. 4, above, 04.12.09


Erwin Square, site of Erwin Mill No. 4, 06.13.09

While I'm happy that the Erwin Mills office building and the Mill No. 1 main building were preserved, I can't help but bemoan the loss of Mill No. 4 and all of the other associated buildings. The opportunity existed here to create something on the scale of the American Tobacco Campus. Admittedly, this would have been more challenging in 1989 than 10 years later, but given that part of the mill was preserved, I'm not sure why the entirety wasn't. Floorplates seen as too large? I don't know.

It's hard to get too excited about Erwin Square, that very-1980s new construction. Even if the "big field" is at some point developed, it's hard to imagine Erwin Square feeling very integrated with the rest of Ninth Street. To me, one feature says it all about the office tower/retail building - there is no sidewalk that connects the building to the sidewalk on West Main St. It feels like it got lost on the way to RTP/Cary/Glenwood Ave. to me. I know there are two Bakatsias restaurants over there, but I somehow always forget they, or anything else retail exists in that place - and I think that has a lot to do with the building and the site. Ah, what could have been.

Find this spot on a Google Map


36.008019,-78.924703

ERWIN AUDITORIUM

Erwin Auditorium, 1920s.
(Courtesy Durham County Library - North Carolina Collection)

Built in 1922 by Erwin Cotton Mills, the Renaissance Revival, 2 1/2 story Erwin Auditorium was designed by Hill C. Linthicum to provide all-purpose recreational space for the community. The construction was not entirely benevolent, as William Erwin used money that would have otherwise been distributed to workers as bonuses to construct the building.

Nonetheless, it quickly became a beloved hub of social activity for West Durham, open from 8:30am to 10:30pm daily, except for Sundays. A 1000-person capacity two-story auditorium (in the rear of the building) hosted concerts, meetings, lectures, shows, plays, and twice-weekly movies. When the chairs were removed, it also served as a gymnasium where basketball games and other athletic activities were held. A swimming pool was located in the basement. The front of the building contained a library, a cafeteria, a baby clinic, a game room, a bowling alley, and a soda fountain. Classes were offered in the building as well, including crafts/arts/sewing/cooking classes as well as night school trade/professional classes that had been offered by Erwin Mills for a number of years. Community groups, such as scouts, would utilize the auditorium for meetings as well. Outdoors in the adjacent park, (extending to the east) there were tennis courts, playgrounds, and a zoo (which had, at least, a bear, an eagle, monkeys, goldfish, and squirrels.) Showers and changing rooms were located on the south side of Erwin Road (where Sam's Blue Light would later be located.)

CB West was the director of Erwin Auditorium and Rosa Warren supervised 'women's programs'.

Movies were a significant attraction at the Auditorium. Many residents saw their first 'talkies' at the Auditorium - children were admitted for 5 cents, and adults for 10. Zeb Stone noted in a 1975 oral history that movies would be originally be shown on Tuesday and Saturday, and that Thursday nights were later added to the schedule as well (other sources note that the third day added was Friday.) The fourth of July was evidently a major event for the community, celebrated in the Park and auditorium.

Residents of West Durham recalled in the same oral history the sense that what they had at the auditorium was a significant cut above what was available / provided by the city in other parts of Durham.

It appears that any program sponsored by the mill was likely to utilize the auditorium. Below, employees of Erwin Mills receive blankets from the company at Christmastime.


Looking northwest from the upper floors of the Erwin Auditorium towards Mill No. 4, 12.22.49. Employees are lined up from the entrance back to the railroad tracks (West Pettigrew was apparently closed between Oregon and Alexander when the Auditorium was built.)
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)


Employees receiving free blankets, 12.22.49
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)

Even as control / ownership of Erwin Mills shifted in the 1950s, the auditorium remained a hub for social activity, classes and the like.


Erwin Auditorium, looking southwest from Mulberry St., 1950s.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)


Erwin Auditorium, looking northwest from Erwin Road and Oregon St., 1950s.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)


Erwin Auditorium in the background, looking south from Mulberry St. during the 1951 Erwin Mills Strike, 1951.
(Courtesy the Herald-Sun)


Aerial shot looking southeast over the Erwin Mill with the Erwin Auditorium in the right background.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)


Looking northwest towards Erwin Auditorium, 1950s
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)


Two women taking ceramics classes at Erwin Auditorium, 04.17.58
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)

After 1956, the Auditorium was jointly owned by Erwin Mills and the City of Durham, and from 1966-1976, it was a city recreation center.


Erwin Auditorium, August 1975
(Courtesy Old West Durham Neighborhood Association)

Jean Anderson tells the story of Erwin Auditorium's connection to the eventual arrival of the American Dance Festival in Durham; when a group of local dance enthusiasts sponsored "A Day for Dancing" at Erwin Auditorium in the early 1970s, they expected 50-75 participants - they got 600. The level of support gave them a substantive base to build upon, establishing summer programs that eventually led to ADF's migration from Connecticut. Similarly, the Durham Symphony was formed after a group met at the Auditorium after recruitment by Vincent Simonetti, the eventual first conductor for the Symphony.

In 1976, the Edison Johnson Rec Center opened, and Erwin Auditorium was closed. The city continued to use the building for storage for another 3 years before it was abandoned.


Erwin Auditorium Pool during abandonment.
(Courtesy Old West Durham Neighborhood Association)

In 1984, the Erwin Auditorium was torn down in advance of the extension of the Durham Freeway from Erwin Road to 15-501.


Erwin Auditorium demolition, 02.16.84
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)


Erwin Auditorium demolition, 02.16.84
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)


Erwin Auditorium demolition, 02.16.84
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)

Some of the site of the auditorium still exists as woods, sandwiched between the RR tracks and the Freeway, but the building footprint hovers above you as you travel westbound on 147.




Site of Erwin Auditorium from West Main Street, 04.12.09


Former Air Raid siren located at Erwin Auditorium, still sitting in the woods between the tracks and the freeway - 04.12.09

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36.006324,-78.924451

Greenfire Reveals New Design for Geer Building Site that Retains Historic Storefronts

Talk of Greenfire's new design for the Geer Building site has been swirling around downtown for about a month now, but Kevin has posted renderings on the new design on his site. You can read more details about the development at his site.

Kudos to Greenfire for rethinking plans to demolish 120-122 West Main St. and 119 Parrish St. to build a large office tower. The new renderings show that at least the facades of the buildings appear to have been retained, and the street-level mass of these buildings is extended to the west by new 'storefront' construction. Thus the architectural fabric of downtown Durham is reinforced, rather than further diminished.


Looking northeast from Corcoran and West Main.
(Courtesy Bull City Rising)


Looking southeast from Corcoran between W. Parrish and E Chapel Hill.
(Courtesy Bull City Rising)


Looking southeast at the 100 West Parrish St. storefronts from W. Parrish and Corcoran.
(Courtesy Bull City Rising)

It's always very hard to tell with these multi-angled modernist structures how they are going to 'fit' based on the renderings. I'm impressed with the general plan, though - create urban height and mass, while also paying very close attention to the pedestrian-scale form and activity.

I'm struck, actually, how much it reminds me of a modern form of the Washington Duke Hotel, once one of Durham's signature architectural buildings that stood diagonally opposite the location of this new structure across the West Parrish and Corcoran intersection. (The original design of that building, anyway - the 60s saw an unfortunate bricking-in of the base of the building, eliminating the storefronts.) I'm impressed by the marriage of 'what works' with a creative aesthetic in a form that echos Durham's own architectural history.

I somewhat doubt that they will retain the entirety of the 120-122 West Main and 119 West Parrish buildings. To an extent, it becomes an exercise in futility to fight over the middle-of-the-block masonry of a structure gutted by fire. I do think 122 West Main is in better shape than the other contiguous structure, and I hope they'll be able to retain some of the original architectural elements. Given the condition and the persistent teetering-on-the-edge-of-demolition with these structures, if we can retain/repair the facades and a decent portion of the remainder of the building, I'm frankly relieved.

While I could quibble with aspects of the design that wouldn't be my preference, I think the rendering shows a very impressive balance between what Greenfire needs to build in order to attract tenants, historic preservation concerns, and urban planning/streetscape concerns. If anyone actually thought that my objections to Greenfire's previous plans had something to do with my day job, it didn't; this is the kind of change I was hoping for. I very much hope they succeed with this.

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35.995793,-78.901425

PINHOOK / CASWELL HILL / CASWELL HEIGHTS

The genesis of Durham as a town is most inextricably linked to the existence of the NW-SE ridgeline that runs through the Piedmont, separating the Cape Fear and Neuse River basins. As I've written about previously, this ridgeline is a natural transportation corridor, and settlement along the corridor was therefore no accident.

Within later-Durham's immediate sphere, Hillsborough and Raleigh were, by the 18th century, the established towns along the roadway that followed the ridgeline. This roadway was, not suprisingly, called the Hillsborough Road, the Raleigh Road, or the Raleigh-Hillsborough Road (or vice-versa) in this area. Journeys were not quick along these roadways, riding, walking, or being pulled by horses. There were, of course, scattered settlement and farms along the roadway, and such farmers could enjoy easier access to markets than those more distant from the main road. Other establishments for the itinerant traveller popped up along the roadway as well; I like to call these 18th/19th century 'truck stops'.

If that term has a somewhat pejorative ring to it, that's intentional. Perhaps long journeys just don't sit well with most folks, particularly if they are alone (or at least on 'business trips') but the seamier side of such places on the side of the highway today - that how-soon-can-I-wash-my-hands feel - is nothing new.

These settlements predated Durham (not the existence of a few stores and homes at the later site of Durham station, but Durham as city.) One well known 'truck stop' was Prattsburg, which I've previously written about. Located on the east side of later-Durham station, Prattsburg was well known for the main forms of vice available - drinking, fighting, gambling, and prostitution - not necessarily in that order. It also had more practical (depending on your point of view, I suppose) services, such as a blacksmith shop, store, cotton gin, etc. William Pratt, the owner, had the place in fine form by the 1830s.

Pratt also owned land west of later-Durham Station. Another, similar settlement was established here by the early 1800s, and named Pinhook. As a Trinity College historian so eloquently put it in a 1906 history that mentions Pinhook: "some questionable characters kept a resort there, and nearby there was a grog shop." The area contained a campground, a well, and grove of trees to rest horses in the shade as well as the gambling, fighting, and prostitution that seemed to be prerequisite. After Pratt, this land passed into the hands of William Turner, who held a license to dispense spirits at Pinhook in 1850, and eventually (by the time of the railroad survey) Andrew Copley. Jean Anderson surmises that Pratt was the likely originator of Pinhook, though, given his other associations with tawdriness.

Helpful to the business of Pinhook was also the establishment of the state university ~15 miles to the southwest. College students have changed less over the course of the past ~150 years than one might imagine.

A story related in history collected by Duke professor John Spencer Bassett is a small news item that ran in the Hillsborough Recorder in 1871, without additional explanation:


Scan from the original Hillsborough Recorder, 1871.
(Courtesy of David Southern)

Exactly locating Pinhook is a fun endeavor, and the kind of thing that Durham history geeks like me like to debate. The best representation of the location of Pinhook is given by the North Carolina railroad survey map, drawn in 1850. A beautiful set of large maps, located in the state archives, they document the charted course of the planned railroad, including land owners and settlement on or proximate to the right-of-way. While descriptions state that Pinhook was located "100 yards southwest from the corner of the Erwin Mill" the survey maps likely show it with the most accuracy.


Overlay of the RR survey map on present-day satellite photography, matching the centerline of the right-of-way to the curve of the railroad track.
(Picture of the survey provided by Steve Rankin)

Pinhook's days had probably begun to wane by the 1880s, as the railroad running through the middle of the settlement likely reduced traffic on the roadway considerably, and seemingly split it in two. Mercantile needs, as well as a need for spirits, would increasingly be met near the stations, as the early growth of saloons near Durham Station would attest. Also, increasing settlement from the growth of Durham brought increased attention that made it more difficult to carry on in isolation.

It seems that Pinhook had already begun to be supplanted by houses of some 'significance' by that time, as an 1887 map shows settlement along the south side of the railroad tracks.


Residents along what would be known as Railroad Street, eventually West Pettigrew, 1887
(Courtesy University of North Carolina)

Many of these people were associated with industry in Durham, such as JW Swift, a "tobacco buyer" who worked on Roney St., JA Long a foreman at the Duke Tobacco Factory, Dr. JL Watkins, a "leaf dealer" who worked on Morris St. JW Brooks is listed as a real estate agent in 1889, which makes me wonder if he was somehow involved in the 'gentrification' of Pinhook. Brookstown would be named after him, although I don't know his relationship to that African-American settlement to the southeast.

By 1892, Brooks is listed as a "plug dealer for Alliance Plug Factory" (plug was a type of tobacco) and as a resident of Caswell Hill. I do not know the origin of the name, but given that it is sometimes referred to as "Casewell Hill" (or Heights) and there is a Case Street, I assume that the name was somehow derived from a Mr/Ms Case, who I have not tracked down. However, all of the residents of this area are referred to as living in Caswell Hill by that year.

If there were any remnants of Pinhook by that time, the finality came when Ben Duke, George Watts, and William Erwin practiced the 1890s version of urban renewal (although they actually built something) acquiring large tracts of land for the construction of Erwin Cotton Mill and the surrounding village. By the time the original mill was constructed in 1893, and expanded in 1898, there was clearly no further evidence of Pinhook. Interestingly, Julian Carr would repeat this same pattern as he flattened Smoky Hollow to create Edgemont/Morning Glory (and Durham Hosiery Mill No.1 & Golden Belt) in 1901.


Site of Pinhook, looking north across the railroad tracks. The housing noted above was behind and to the right of the photographer.
(Courtesy Old West Durham)

With the construction of the Erwin Mill, Caswell Hill became part of the mill village, housing supervisors, owners and the like. Brooks and Swift seem to have disappeared by the late 1890s, although the 1910 map below still shows Brooks' name. It also shows that these houses were increasingly acquired by Erwin Mills to provide housing for employees. The area associated with Pinhook on the north side of the road/railroad was eventually redeveloped as part of Mill No. 4, built in 1909.


Caswell Hill, 1910. Houses owned by Erwin Mill are white, others are shaded.
(Courtesy Duke RBMC - digitized by Digital Durham)

Occupants of the specific houses on the south side of the tracks are difficult to track down prior to 1925, but a rather scattershot accounting of occupants from the late 1920s, late 1930s, and mid 1950s, living between the Erwin Auditorium and 14th (Rutherford) Street:

1709 West Pettigrew: Parks, PB; Byers, Walton V; Cooke, Robert
1715 West Pettigrew: Blacknall, JC Mrs.; Parks, Paul B; Byers, Walton V..
1801 West Pettigrew: Ward, WP; Blacknall, Josephine; Benson, Dwight M
1805 West Pettigrew: Poe, CT; Same; Same
1807 West Pettigrew: Cable, LB; Bunting Carl L; Woodruff, Percy and Hitt, Marlin
1811 West Pettigrew: Cooke, NA Mrs.; Gery, Delma; Jones, Thos.
1815 West Pettigrew: Hawes, AD; Heldman, Jas; Smart, Oscar
1819 West Pettigrew: Agner, AL; Agner, Adam; Nash, Chas E
1823 West Pettigrew: Byrd, WT; Same; Wiley William T
1825 West Pettigrew:Reese, AM; Faris, Aubry; Sam


A partial view of the houses along West Pettigrew Street, terminating in Erwin Auditorium (to be profiled next week), 1950s
(Courtesy Herald Sun)

It isn't clear when these houses were torn down, but they were certainly down by 1984, when demolition along West Pettigrew Street occurred in advance of the construction of the Erwin->15-501 leg of the Durham Freeway.

The below 1989 shot of the construction of Erwin Square shows the cleared land on the south side of the railroad tracks.


Looking north at the construction of Erwin Square, 02.01.89
(Courtesy Herald Sun)

Today, the location of Pinhook would sit around the roundabout entrance to Erwin Square, and in the no-man's-land between the railroad and the Durham Freeway - a desolate evolution for a place that once hosted such boisterous behavior.


Site of Pinhook, 06.13.09

I'm happy to report that the name has been rejuvenated in the form of a great little bar that opened last fall - not at Pinhook proper (as if it ever was) but at 119 West Main Street.

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36.006728,-78.925253

Mystery Photo - 06.18.09

"Corner store at 11pm, Durham NC" - May, 1940.
From the Library of Congress - Farm Service Administration photo by Jack Delano.

As a side note, there are some great Durham photographs in the Library of Congress, particularly revolving around the tobacco auctions in downtown Durham, but also some wonderful shots of downtown 1936-1940. The digital quality of these available online is miserable, as you can see above. Unfortunately, the Library of Congress seems to charge $22 per scan if you'd like to order something better. If anyone has experience with a cheaper solution worked out with the LOC / knows how to fund such an endeavor (there are probably about 300 photos in total) let me know.

And a good opportunity to repeat my digitization mantra - if you have the rare opportunity to access your Great Aunt Lizzie's picture of the family homestead in 1893, crank up the dpi!! I can never understand why people (including libraries) are scanning photos at 300 dpi or worse in these days of $150 1.5 terabyte hard drives. The hard part is getting access to the photo - scan high, scan often.

13TH, 14TH, AND 15TH STREETS - WEST DURHAM

Part of Mill No. 4, and the mill village stretching westward, 1910s. The somewhat larger red-colored structure in the center of the mill houses was the West Durham Presbyterian Church, the precursor to Blacknall Presbyterian.
(Courtesy John Schelp)

It's hard to know what 'units' to use in describing the portions of the Erwin Mills / West Durham mill village. Mill houses were built contemporaneously with the mill in 1893. 440 houses had been built by 1900; mill housing extended to the west, north, south and, to a small degree, to the east.


1913 Sanborn map, showing the neat arrangement of similar, evenly-spaced small houses that is/was typical of mill communities.
(Copyright Sanborn)

After the establishment of Blacknall Presbyterian, the West Durham Presbyterian Church was torn down and replaced with a house.

During the 1940s, Erwin Mills began to sell the houses to workers; the houses thus gradually came under private ownership.


The western portion of the mill village, bird's eye view looking east from ~ above 15th street, ~1950.
(Courtesy the Herald-Sun)


1959 aerial shot of the houses, with streets labelled.

The attrition of houses in this area has continued steadily since the 1970s. The connection of 15th Street with Anderson St. (15th did not previously cross the railroad tracks) and widening of the that street, as well as the typically rapacious appetite of churches for land (Greystone) has left little evidence of housing along 15th Street. 15th and 14th (now Rutherford) have also seen ongoing demolitions - much of which has been driven by parking for Duke and Erwin Square. 13th St., now Bolton, had been emptied out fairly well by Erwin Square, and now one side of the street is entirely taken up by the Station 9 residential development.


2007 aerial - the attrition of houses is evident.


15th Street, looking southwest, 06.13.09 - one house remains amidst the Greystone lands.


Empty parking lots dominate the east side of 15th street - one house remains on this side as well, 06.13.09


Rutherford (14th) - several houses remain on the east side of the street, but only one remains on the west side.
06.13.09


Bolton (13th) - Station 9 dominates the street, but there are several houses left standing on the west side. To the left is the approximate location of the West Durham Presbyterian Church - 06.13.09

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36.009234,-78.92783

Endangered Durham's Big Map Updated

Check it out! Also I've been adding a good bit of new imagery and history to old posts as time permits, and 'subdividing' some old posts to give some individual buildings downtown a bit more attention. I don't keep track of them very well, but here are some:

Presley Mangum House
Alexander Ford
Blacknall's Drug/Geer bldg
Academy of Music / Rotary Park / WD Hotel
5 pts NW
5 pts E
Salvation Army
5 pts NE
5 pts W
Globe WH
Austin-Heaton Plant
Light and Power
Harwood Hall
Union Station
Brookstown
So. Cons of Music (Duke)
Hotel Carrolina / Silk Hosiery Mill.

2600-2604 1/2 HILLSBOROUGH RD.

1959 Aerial of 15th Street and Hillsborough Road.

The four-bay commercial structure at the intersection of 15th St. and Hillsborough Rd. appears to have been built in 1958-59, replacing an earlier frame structure - a converted dwelling that had housed several businesses.

John Schelp was able to provide me pictures of one of the interior tenants - the Vogue Beauty Shoppe, which occupied the easternmost bay.


Vogue Beauty Shoppe Interior
(Courtesy John Schelp)


Vogue Beauty Shoppe Interior
(Courtesy John Schelp)


Vogue Beauty Shoppe Interior
(Courtesy John Schelp)

While that space is now probably better known as purveyor-of-fine-popsicles Locopops, other longstanding tenants, such as Don Hill's Lock and Safe have helped to provide the longevity of character that a establishes a building as an integral part of a neighborhood, and of Durham.


2600-2604 1/2 Hillsborough, 04.05.09

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36.010959,-78.928797

WEST DURHAM BAPTIST / GREY STONE BAPTIST CHURCH

West Durham Baptist / Grey Stone Baptist, 1935.
(Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection)

The West Durham Baptist Church located after 1897 on Alexander Avenue had seen its congregation grow to more than 800 by 1927. Rather than expand at the Alexander site, the church purchased a site at the corner of Hillsborough Rd. and 15th Street in 1933. The plan for a new gothic church, built of the same stone used to construct Duke's West Campus, was executed by Durham architectural firm Atwood and Weeks. Although construction began soon after purchase of the site, it was halted for lack of funds for a period, but resumed to complete the church by 1936.

In 1949, the church changed its name to Grey Stone Baptist Church to distinguish the church from the African-American West Baptist Church. Several expansions of the church were performed in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, including additions to the rear of the 1936 church building as well as parking lots.

The church remains active today.


Grey Stone Baptist, 04.12.09

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36.010512,-78.929217

Junktacular New Windows Going in University Apartments

(Photo courtesy Hannah Peele)

The plastification of the University Apartments has begun in earnest, as the new window next to old windows above shows. The windows appear to be de rigeur inoperable, fake muntined, white vinyl. I'm not particularly 'worried' about the installation of carpet in these apartments - it's a mistake easily undone. This is not.

Beyond the sustainability, aesthetics, etc. - why businesspeople want to cheapen the value of their asset is beyond me. Replacing windows that would easily last another 70 years with ones that will fall apart in 15 while diminishing the attractiveness of your apartments speaks to a business which must use a one-size-fits-all pro forma for all of their properties. As long as you make your target return, don't go shakin' it up to do things a better, and ultimately more profitable way. Put another way - going for the win, rather than the win-win-win.

Mystery Photo - 06.11.09

Pic n' Pay, 03.02.62
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)

2603-2609 HILLSBOROUGH

2603 Hillsborough, 1950s.
(Courtesy Old West Durham)

The three-bay commercial structure once located at the corner of 16th St. and Hillsborough Road appears to have been built in the early to mid 1920s, and was first home to the Hillsborough Road Drug Co. Midgett's Barber Shop was added by the late 1920s.

By the late 1930s- early 1940s, it contained Ferrell's Barber Shop, the Delite Beauty Shop, and Johnson's Soda Shop. By the mid-1950s, it contained Ferrell's Barber Shop, Fent's Place Restaurant, and the Petite Beauty Shop.

By the late 1950s, a store across the street (with a fantastic name) moved to 2603 Hillsborough - the Ideal Sundry. I'm not sure if a fourth bay was added to the storefronts at that time, as Ferrell's Barber Shop, Fent's Place, and the Petite Beauty Shop remained in place at 2605-2609 Hillsborough.

Per the Old West Durham website, the Ideal Sundry was operated by Mr. A.W. "Bill" Holmes. The site states that "Bill, always with a smile, would welcome his many customers. After school and on weekends, the Ideal Sundry was also a favorite meeting place for teenagers. [Kids] could enjoy a cold soda, select a favorite comic book or buy anything from toys to chips."

The commercial storefronts at 2603-2609 Hillsborough were torn down in the mid-1980s. The site is now a surface parking lot for Greystone Baptist Church.


2603-2609 Hillsborough, 06.06.09

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36.010847,-78.929222

GARRARD'S GROCERY

Built prior to 1913, the commercial structure at 2606-2608 Hillsborough Road was initially divided down the middle, with stores on either side. By the mid-1920s, the 2606 side is listed as occupied by VP Hall, but no notation of what business he/she ran. The 2608 side was occupied by Caleb E Garrard, who ran a grocery, called simply Garrard's Grocery Store. Per the Old West Durham website, "long-time resident Bill Holmes recalls [Garrard]'s mule-drawn wagon that delivered groceries to the nearby homes in the West Durham mill village."

The Hillsborough Road Market occupied the 2606 side of the building by the late 1920s, although Garrard is still listed at 2608. By the mid-1930s, Garrard's Grocery had taken over both sides of the building.

During the 1940s, the Haygood Grocery Store occupied the building. The owners realized that a local ordinance stipulated they were too close to Greystone Baptist to sell alcohol. They evidently re-divided the store down the middle and began to sell alcohol out of the western half, which was just over the line.

Alliance plumbing store took over the space in the 1950s, which was later replaced by a "Chinese Grocery store" per OWD until it closed in 1985.

The store was renovated by Mitch Fisher for his business, Fisher Signs, which is the current occupant of the building.

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36.011069,-78.929042

UNIVERSITY APARTMENTS

A little jaunt back to the West End today to cover the University Apartments, which I skipped previously simply in hopes of stumbling upon more information before writing about it.

However, Lisa Sorg at the Independent published the news that the apartment complex had been purchased by Capstone Development, a Birmingham, AL-based student housing developer, and followed up the blog post with great article providing more in-depth coverage.

The University Apartments were built in 1938 on two 'bundles' of land between Duke University Rd. and Burch Avenue. The first was a parcel of land that had belonged to prolific Durham contractor Norman Underwood and his wife Elise. They had purchased the 3.87 acres of land in 1904 and built their home fronting on what was then called West Chapel Hill Street. Underwood built the Durham Public Library on East Main St., the Trust Building as well as numerous houses - including Greystone and several on Vickers Ave.

In 1936 the Underwoods sold their house and parcel to H. G. Hendrick who in turn sold it to C. W. Hall in 1936, then to L. H. Fountain in 1937, then to University Housing Corporation in July of 1937.

The second set of parcels, facing Burch Ave., belonged to Benjamin C. Ross. He sold 7 lots to the University Housing Corporation in August 1937. He eventually would sell two remaining lots to the company in 1958. The only remaining lot in the block, on the southwest corner of Burch and Maplewood, belonged to J. R. Cannady. This house still sits on the corner behind University Apartments.

A 1937 deed between University Housing Corporation and New York Life Insurance Co., the construction lender, includes a cost break-down for the apartments (named University Apartments on the deed) pegging the total building construction cost at $497,750.


1937 Sanborn Map showing the site of University Apartments just before they were built.

Neither the builder nor the architect are known. Interestingly, there is a nearly identical set of apartments in Raleigh on Hillsborough Road, called Cameron Court. These were also built in 1938, on the former site of the in-town homeplace of Duncan Cameron.


1950 Sanborn Map showing the apartments.


The only old picture I have showing a portion of the University Apartments, mid-1950s, looking south on Maplewood from near Burch.
(Courtesy Barry Norman)

Ownership of the apartments remained remarkably stable. University Housing Corporation sold the apartments to University Associates in 1981, which held the apartments until their recent sale to Capstone.

University Apartments presents such a different look and feel, from the exterior, than any apartment complex built after the 1950s. Handsome architectural detailing, large multi-paned windows, and large mature trees without a parking place in sight from the main roadway. It seems to have attracted a loyal following of people who have lived there for years, and thus created a greater sense of community than what one would typically find in an apartment complex. Out on West Chapel Hill St., I started a conversation with a woman who lived in the apartments - she had lived there for seven years, which was not atypical. Current apartment developers should take note; perhaps you can reduce turnover if you didn't start your architectural plans with the layout of the parking lot, and then ring that parking lot with vanilla boxes.

I also received several concerned emails from residents regarding the recent sale and what it might mean for the apartments. The developer specializes in student housing - which really hasn't been typical of University Apartments. They plan 'upgrades' to include removal of the historic windows and carpeting the bedrooms. It seems an odd approach to shift a stable working-class apartment community to student rentals, unless you figure that the added costs of itinerant undergraduates are outweighed by what their parents can pay - a point Lisa makes in her Indy article.

I question the business logic of avoiding historic tax credits in order to put in new windows. Having replaced glazing on very similar windows at Golden Belt, you can achieve excellent energy efficiency and noise dampening from placing insulated glass in the original steel frames, without compromising the architectural character of the building. Of course this costs more than putting in a single sheet of glass +/- those damnable fake muntins, but that's where the historic tax credits offset things.

It's hard to think that University Apartments will be changed for the better by the acquisition and renovation by a national company for whom the buildings are just another student housing facility in their portfolio. Anecdotally, residents evidently aren't having their leases renewed, and the interior changes have already begun.


University Apts from Duke University Road, 06.06.09

(Many thanks to Heather Wagner for her deed research, which I incorporated into the post.)

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35.997294,-78.922343

921 OAKLAND

Looking southwest from Knox and Oakland, 05.23.09

I don't know any particularly extraordinary history of the house at 921 Oakland Ave.; it's simply a bit unusual for houses of its vintage. It appears to predate most of the surrounding houses by a decade or two, and while the form isn't particularly atypical for a 1900-1915 house, the materials are. Slate roof, stuccoed exterior, and stone lintels on the windows are not typical for houses this size, particularly in Durham. Combined with the 'rising sun' motif of the porch railings and the deeply recessed gable-fronts, this house is quite architecturally distinctive.

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36.01362,-78.929396

Mystery Photo - 06.04.09

(Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection)

Due to the unexpected response to last week's Mystery Photo, I've decided to bring it back this week. Found in a pile of photos of streets and houses in Durham, late 1960s/early 1970s.

WEST DURHAM PENTECOSTAL CHURCH

(Courtesy Old West Durham)

Per the Old West Durham website a Pentecostal mission was established in West Durham in 1911. The group met in the home of CE Cates, located on Gin St. For the next nine years, the group used the SW Avery home on 15th St., "a hall" on 9th St., and AW Utley's home on 13th (Bolton) St.

In 1920, a location at Oakland and Alabama Aves. was identified, and a small white frame church with a tin roof was built at the site.

The church grew in popularity; in 1941 Rev. DD Freeman became well-known for a radio program that aired Sunday mornings on WDNC.


(Courtesy Old West Durham)

By 1945, he departed to do missionary work in Africa and was replaced by Rev. Kenneth Dantzler, who began the building campaign that resulted in the opening of the church's current sanctuary in 1945.


Looking northwest from Oakland, 04.15.90


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36.012193,-78.929514

PUBLIC SERVICE / ICE COMPANY - WEST DURHAM

Looking west from Crabtree St. (later Trent) and Hillsborough Rd., 1920s
(Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection)

Many people are probably aware of ice delivery in the days before household refrigeration became commonplace; the term 'icebox' still gets used occasionally, at least in the south - which hearkens back to the days when delivered ice would be inserted into an insulated cabinet and used to refrigerate perishables. Even after mechanical refrigeration was available, it took ~20 years (~1930s-1950s) for such equipment to become predominant in American households.

In Durham, it was the electric company that provided ice service and central refrigeration; the main office was located on Blackwell St., across from American Tobacco. The West Durham 'branch office' was located on Hillsborough Road, at the corner of Crabtree St. (later Trent.)

The company appears to have closed this building, at least, by the mid to late 1930s; however it appears to have reopened as the West Durham Ice Company by the 1950s. By the late 1950s, it was called the West Durham Ice and Produce Company.

I'm not sure when the structure was torn down, but by the 1980s, the site became the parking lot in front of a restaurant - I remember it as China Inn in the 1990s, but I'm not sure if it wasn't something previously. (As an aside, I acquired a since-beloved neologism from the China Inn menu: "flavorite." It was used in this sentence, in 2000: "....flavorite dish of newly-elected president Bill Clinton.")

China Inn closed sometime in the early 2000s, and I believe that the building now houses a nightclub.


Looking west from Trent and Hillsborough, 04.15.09

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36.011759,-78.930631

2803 HILLSBOROUGH ROAD

2803 Hillsborough Road, November 2006

The few remaining former/current residential properties on Hillsborough Road, concentrated in the 2800 block, continue to incrementally decrease. Last known victim: the duplex at 2803 Hillsborough Road, which showed progressive decline over many years before being 'removed' by NIS last April.


2803 Hillsborough, 2007.


Immediately after demolition (sorry for the cell phone pic) - 04.13.08.


2803 Hillsborough, 04.15.09

I'm often asked if I ever find it acceptable to tear down a historic property - which is usually an effort to find out if I am 'reasonable'. You can point to the ongoing deterioration of this property, its location and potential residential undesirability on Hillsborough Road, etc. - all as 'reasonable' justifications for its removal.

The problem in Durham is that every single demolition is deemed reasonable by the powers-that-be.

My return question is generally "what is an adequate number of historic properties for Durham to have?" It's a similarly unanswerable question, and my point is simply this: if you can't determine the answer to this question, how can you ever decide whether or not losing "just this one" is reasonable?

Our record on saving structures from the wrecking ball in Durham is abysmal. We lose the vast, vast majority of fights to save structures from demolition. Given that demolitions and natural attrition aren't going away, how can we afford to 'allow' any historic structures to be demolished without a fight? When does yet another demolition become unreasonable - when there are 500 historic structures left? 200? 50? 5?

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36.013114,-78.932197