Durham Buggy Company, 1910
From <i>Durham Illustrated</i>, 1910
<i>Durham is looked to by people of the Southern States for many of their manufactured articles, and the output of the Durham factories stands high in comparison with that of other points. One well known concern of this city which does much to build up this reputation is the Durham Buggy Co., Inc., makers of the famed "Bull" and "Durham" buggies. This company was organized and incorporated in 1906, with a capital stock of $125,000.00. They built a complete factory in the east end of the city and began the making of buggies and carriages. The main building of the plant is three stories in height and 60 by 160 feet in dimensions. In connection with this building is a one-story blacksmith shop and a two-story stock-room. The entire plant is equipped vvith most modern wood and iron working machinery, and employment is given to a staff of fifty expert mechanics and assistants. The output of this plant is about five thousand buggies a year, and these are sold throughout the entire country, principally in the Southern States, where the "Bull" and "Durham" buggies are well known as goods properly made, of first- class materials. Those are the two points absolutely insisted upon in this factory- quality of material and the best of workmanship. This accounts for the lasting durability and the general satisfaction given to all customers, and for the steady increase in the demand made by the public for the "Bull" and "Durham" buggies. The officers of the company are: President, Sidney W. Minor; Vice-President, Frank L. Fuller; Secretary-Treasurer, William T. Minor; General Manager, H. H. Goodall. these gentlemen are all weIl known in local circles as business men of large interests and with the prosperity of Durham at heart. They are strong believers in her future growth as a manufacturing center and are doing their share towards her advancement by building up such an important industry as the Durham Buggy Company. </i>
By 1937, the Newport Lumber Company had displaced the Durham Buggy Company, evidently utilizing the same buildings.
1937 Sanborn
Durham Buggy Company Buildings - Newport Lumber Co, 1940s
SIte of Durham Buggy Company, 05.15.11
Comments
Submitted by RWE (not verified) on Wed, 6/15/2011 - 2:00am
Yikes. Imagine what the soil must be like on that site.
Submitted by Gary (not verified) on Wed, 6/15/2011 - 2:00am
Avius Those walls were actually not for this, but for the Commonwealth Cotton Mfg. Co. adjacent to this (you can see it just to the north on the Sanborn, already abandoned by 1937.) I do think those walls have, unfortunately, just recently been removed. GK
Submitted by Avius (not verified) on Wed, 6/15/2011 - 2:00am
Ah! You've answered another question for me. There are portions of the first and second story brick walls of what looks to be the 'office' section of the main building still standing along the tracks. They now serve as a part of the 'fence' around the property. I always wondered what sort of building they had been a part of, since there were traces of previous grandeur here and there.
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