Government

--- Prison Farm / County Home, 1880s. (Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection) On November 15th, 1881, the County Commissioners purchased a tract of 138 acres of land on Roxboro Road, then about three miles north of Durham, from WA Wilkerson for $1393.75 and erected a frame house for "the care of the aged, indigent and infirm."...

The previous two posts have examined the history and land use of the northeast and southeast corners of East Main St. and Dillard St. Today's post examines the southwest corner of this intersection, the site of the current health department, and future site of the Human Services Complex (Looking south) Here is the satellite view from Google of this...

The east side of the 300 block of McMannen Street was developed as a residential area to the east of the Blackwell Factory. McMannen Street, 1881. The rise of the Austin-Heaton Flour Company and Kramer Tobacco company increased the commercial pressure on this section. The corner of Cora and McMannen was, by the 1890s, inhabited by MA Angier, a...

The home of the "Golden Belt Hose Company", a primarily volunteer firefighting squad, was constructed at the intersection of Holloway and Mangum Streets between 1888 and 1893, likely in 1890, on land adjacent to the E.J. Parrish tobacco warehouse.

The southeast corner of Willard St. and West Chapel Hill Street was first the site of a modest house. I'm unsure as to whether this house belonged to the Thaxton family or was the original cottage of Thomas Decatur Jones, but this picture likely dates from the 1860s or early 1870s. (Duke Rare Book and Manuscript Collection - Wyatt Dixon Collection)...

Looking north, 1910s. (Courtesy Durham County Library) The last of the 'original' fire stations downtown, fire station no. 3 was constructed in 1911, housing a steamer engine and a hose wagon. The 500 block of East Main St. (between Dillard and Elizabeth streets) was constructed as a wide, divided street with a median - but only for one block. The...

Looking southwest, ~1920. (Courtesy Duke Archives). After Durham County was established by vote of the state legislature in 1881, the first courthouse (and everything else related to the business of the new county) was located in rented space in Stokes Hall, on the northeast corner of Corcoran and West Main St.

New Deal era water tower still flows for Durham