805 Onslow Street

36.010209, -78.914951

805
Durham
NC
Year built
1895-1905
Architectural style
Construction type
Local historic district
National Register
Neighborhood
Use
Building Type
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(Below in italics is from the National Register listing; not verified for accuracy by this author.)

This rambling two-story frame house from the turn of the century gives the impression of being two houses that have been joined – a larger L-shaped front block to which the rectangular rear wing is attached at a rear corner. Both sections have pointed arched surrounds with bargeboard applied to the lintels. Original turned porch posts and decorative railing survive.

Comments

805 Onslow Street (originally Third Street) prior to the mid-30s was Pascall's Bakery. When the bakery closed the house was rented by Hattie McBride Werner who ran a boarding/rooming house there until the late 40s. There was a long center hall with the one black telephone. At the end was a storage room hidden by a curtain. On the right front was the living room with fireplace, and behind that a bedroom. On the left side of the house was the dining room with its own entrance off the porch. The dining room had a large table and chairs, pedal sewing machine, Warm Morning heater and an electric stove used only for boiling water. The kitchen had a wood stove where all the meals were cooked, a wood box, Hoosier cabinet and small refrigerator. At the rear was a closed in porch containing the wringer washer and tubs. Upstairs were four bedrooms, each with its own coal-burning stove and one bath for all the occupants. "Miss Hattie" or "Granny" had a variety of roomers over the years: telephone operators, nurses, grocery store worker, plumber, tobacco worker, seamstress and one small George Watts Elementary student. These became family and that continues to this day.

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