Government

The main public library in Durham - the first public library in North Carolina - was established in Durham in 1897 at Five Points, located in a small, ornate Queen Anne frame structure. The library's collection began to push the capacity of this small structure by the 1910s, and the search began for funding and space to build a new library.

The home of the "Golden Belt Hose Company", a primarily volunteer firefighting squad, was constructed at the intersection of Holloway and Mangum Streets in 1891 on land adjacent to the E.J. Parrish tobacco warehouse. It was designed by Samuel L. Leary, had an electric alarm system, and an 829 pound bell in its tower, cast in Baltimore.

Just after the turn of the century, the City decided to replace the scattered offices of the city along Main St. as well as the old city market that was supplanted by Union Station with a new, impressive municipal building known as the Academy of Music, which would be located between East Chapel Hill St., Corcoran, Market, and Parrish Sts. The site cost $16,000. The city commissioned architects Hook and Sawyer of Charlotte, who also executed the Southern Conservatory of Music and Fire Station #2, to design the structure.