Durham Historic Restaurant Hunt!
One of my unexpectedly favorite things on Endangered Durham has been the Mystery Photo - you all have blown me away with your identification skills. I decided to put together a fun mystery / scavenger hunt to celebrate the launch of Open Durham that combines two of my favorite things: food and history.
For a 'foodie town,' there is remarkably little written history of Durham's old restaurants - while we've branched into a culinary diversity that wasn't available in mid-20th century Durham, there aren't any more restaurants per square mile in Durham than there were in the 1950s - a quick perusal of a 1960 city directory yields a surprisingly long list of eating establishments - most of which had disappeared by the 1970s.
In an effort to get us in touch with our culinary roots, I'm putting you to the test; for the next two weeks, beginning Monday 10/3, I'll be releasing clues every day on here, Facebook, and Twitter to see if you can find the restaurant. The places will be marked with an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper that looks like the above. You can use the QR code or the web address on the sheet of paper to see the entry on the new Open Durham site.
On October 15th, the hunt will be complete - email me your full list of guesses by the end of that weekend. On October 22, I'll lead a tour of the places, tentatively at 2pm, and tentatively with some local chef(s) offering their thoughts on the historic food (not food past the due date) of Durham. Everyone who comes will get an Open Durham button, and those who got every answer right will get an ExtraSpecialOpenDurham Button as well to show off their superior Durham knowledge.
My hope is that, as the hunt progresses, people will gather stories about the restaurants for the day of the tour. If you have a friend or a relative who knows something about it, or ate at the restaurant, bring them, or bring their story. We'll collect the info to be a part of Open Durham, and thus part of our historical record. The week between end-of-building hunt and the tour is so everyone will know all of the answers and be able to get around to visit their mom or uncle or neighbor and convince them to come and share their stories, or simply to convey it for them when you come.
I think and hope this will be a lot of fun, and that we'll all learn a lot about Durham's food history. I hope you enjoy it!
Gary
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17 comments:
What fun. I do have a question. Several years ago, I visited the newly opened American Tobacco Campus. Close to the water tower was a facade of an old restaurant/diner. It appeared to be of cinder block structure, with an old menu and prices of items listed on the front. I don't think the whole restaurant was actually there, but I'm not sure. Are you familiar with it, and if so, what restaurant was it?
It was the cafe where the American Tobacco employee's ate...When you look at it now, the ground has been built up so that only the top half of the restaurant shows is visible. As an example, you can see the bottom of the screen door as is is now buried under concrete I believe. I don't know the name of it though. My aunt who worked at "the factory" as it was called, ate lunch there most days.
There "was" a placeon Blackwell Street called "Nances" also and I think it was actually a cafeteria. I used to eat lunch there and get take out when I worked at the Duke Power Building that was also on Blackwell Street. My desk was in what was the hay loft for the horses when it was Durham Ice and Coal Company.
John, a bit about AB Morris / Nance's here
http://endangereddurham.blogspot.com/2008/08/ab-morris-cafe-nances-cafeteria.html
GK
Was Nance's the building that eventually turned into the Palace International...an African Dance Club in the mid 80's before the ballpark arrived....the Palace eventually moved to Parrish Street and now resides on Broad Street...
inspired - what fun!!
inspired - what fun!!
Darn! I'm out of town on the 15th. Sounds fun!
Thanks Diana, that's the one. Amazing as to how inexpensive food was back then. I just love older structures like that.
Great. I've been hoping for something on the little DoNut shop that was on W. Main until sometime in the 60s. I think I have seen it in one photo. I remember it from the early 50s, watching donuts being glazed on long wooden sticks.
Think it was called DoNut Dinette.
Anon
Indeed it was; here you go:
http://on.fb.me/nTKKpZ
GK
I remember the Do Nut Dinette...had forgotten all about it until I saw that one photo on facebook...and now I am remembering the donot glazing on a stick...My dad has cafes downtown and my son is getting ready to open a place in the old building at five points where the Plaza restaurant used to be...corner of Morris and Chapel Hill Sts...(Scott Harmon's project)....I love my Bull City and love seeing the historical places being restored.
Thanks Gary. This is so great. Many memories of good times have been roused by your good works.
at ab morris cafe across from american tobacco we would leave durham high at lunch and run there to eat,only had 45/fourty five min..we would go in the basement door and get our trays and at the end of the line was a large bowl of huss puppies and we would snalk on them.great barbque and stew.then we would have to sneak back to class.
does anybody remember "scotty's" on corcoran street across the street from the Hill Building...now Suntrust Bank....it was a great after-school hangout when I was at Carr Jr High
Hi Gary,read the HeraldSun article
about great resturants from the past in Durham and the hunt that is
to take place,Does this include cafe's also ? Because i can well remember the good Hotdogs from Morgan Street Cafe and Amos and Andy Ohh !! to have a Nehi Grape soda and 2 Hotdogs all the way.
d oris
Indeed there are some cafes included!
GK
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