Foster and West Geer

705 Foster Street

06.07.08 - Photo by Gary Kueber From the National Register Listing: The two-story, flat-roof, three-bay-wide brick commercial building does not appear in the 1955 Durham City Directory but is listed in the 1957 directory as the “Durham Awning Co.” The business was still listed in the 1963 directory. Its functional construction of one-to-five common...

703 Foster Street - Manbites Dog

06.07.08 - Photo by Gary Kueber From the National Register listing: The one-story brick, flat-roof rectangular building was built ca. 1947 for Walton Roofing and Heating Company. It is not listed in the 1944-1947 Durham City Directory but is listed the 1950- 1951 directory. The three-bay-wide east façade has Flemish bond brick with glazed headers...

Erwin Oil Company

(Courtesy Bob Blake) An American Oil Company (AMOCO) Bulk Oil and gasoline wholesale plant / warehouse was established between the Norfolk and Western railroad spur and Washington St. prior to 1937. In 1945, operation of the plant was taken over by the Erwin Oil Company, which continues to operate it today. 06.06.08 04.01.10 From the National...

Durham Baking Company / Weeks Motor Company / Motorco Music Hall

Built in ~1938, the Durham Baking Company seems to have been a wholesale production facility, and possibly the Merita Bread Company production facility. 1950 Sanborn map of Rigsbee and West Geer Streets. Although sources are sketchy, it sounds as if a fire in the baking company building may have resulted in the exit of bread production. Regardless...

600 Foster St.

600 Foster St. was built circa 1958-1959 as a branch of the Home Savings and Loan. By the late 1960s, the building had been re-purposed as an appliance store known as Miller-Hurst. Miller-Hurst, late 1960s. (Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection) By 1970, the building was definitely no longer selling dishwashers. Paradise...

Nu-Tread Tire Company

Nu-Tread Tire company, 1953 (Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection) In 1951, the Nu-Tread tire company was described as "rendering a wide range of services to the motoring public," which included a "nationally advertised line of tires, tubes, batteries, and auto accessories" as well as "the General Electric line of electrical...

Uzzle Cadillac / Green Horizon

Looking east from West Geer St. to catch a small piece of the Uzzle Cadillac dealership, late 1960s. (Courtesy University of North Carolina) Uzzle Cadillac was started by Wilson Uzzle in a rather elaborate service station building on the southwest corner of Dillard and East Main Sts. around 1930.

King's Sandwich Shop

Unfortunately, a break with my usual pattern - no old photo today. But I couldn't let that stop me from writing up King's. From a search of old city directories, it appears that King's first opened around 1950-51. (But may have been as early as 1942.) Eleanor Cox, who sent me some great remembrances of the curb market (which I added to that post)...

644 Foster Street / Gulf Station - Geer And Foster

Gulf Station at the southeast corner of Foster and West Geer, 1952 (Courtesy Wayne Henderson) Looking east from the west side of Foster Street, 08.03.61. (Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper) Perhaps oddly, the small former Gulf Service Station on the southeast corner of West Geer and Foster St. is one of my favorite buildings in Durham. Built in the...

Texaco/sinclair Station - Ne Corner Geer And Foster

Looking north at the Texaco Station. , 1952. The Scott and Roberts Cleaners is in the left background on Foster St. (Courtesy Wayne Henderson) The Texaco station at the northeast corner of W. Geer and Foster Sts. appears to have originally been built in the 1940s. By the 1960s, it had become a Sinclair Station. Looking northeast, a partial view of...