1212 South Duke Street / University Drive

35.985662, -78.910388

1212
Durham
NC
Architectural style
Neighborhood
Building Type
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Hardees_FH_080567.jpg

1200 Block of South Duke St. / University Drive, 08.05.67

(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)   Although 1212 South Duke Street (now University Drive) was the site of a small home in the early to mid-20th century, I've had more interested emails regarding the 1950s-60s era Hardees which replaced that house. I'd have to spend some quality time with the city directories to know when it opened and closed, but the futuristic shape is partially visible in the above photograph (of a flood in the Third Fork Creek floodplain that is Forest Hills park/shopping center).   
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1212 South Duke Street / University Drive, 04.04.11   View this site on Google Maps

Comments

The earliest Hardees looked like a McDonalds without the arches.About 1963 they switched to a zig-zag roof on a round building with a point in the center.The next buildings were also round and pointed with a wave pagoda roof like the Durham one.The Guess Rd Hardees had a sideways A-frame roof because it was built as a Chip's hamburgers.Most Chip's in the south became Hardees about 1966. Robby

I remember this Hardees, as well as the Forest Hills Park just west of here. I worked a summer job at the Eckerd Drug Store in the Forest Hills Shopping Center (actually a strip mall) across the street, summer of '65. Sometimes would go swimming at the pool at Forest Hills Park.

I remember many picnic lunches during the late 1960's and early 1970's that featured Hardees food. My mother and father would order up a sack full of hamburgers and french fries for my brothers and sister and me. We would pull onto the lawn under the old oak trees at Forest Hills Park; fold down the tailgate of the Pontiac station wagon and enjoy a family meal. We continued the tradition even after the new Hardees opened on Chapel Hill Boulevard. I still do this with my daughter once or twice a year today. You may be able to gather information/photos from: Boddie-Noell Enterprises, Inc. P.O.Box 1908 1021 Noell Lane (27804) Rocky Mount, NC 27802-1908 P (252) 937-2000

Awww, I'd forgotten about that building. When I was a kid, I called it the space burger place. (I don't know why; I guess it reminded me of the Jetsons or something.) Those are some truly ugly new buildings they've plopped down there. All the character of a cardboard box.

I remember going there in 1964 and after when I was in high school. Hardee's was founded in 1960 but didn't become a chain until 61 so 63-64 is about the earliest it could have been. The little pointy roof buildings were the first design for buildings. I really loved that place.

The Hardees opened about 1964-5 and closed in the mid-late 1970s when the new location was built on Chapel Hill Blvd.this was Durham's first Hardees. Robby

Someone else remembered Chips burgers. TB

Having grown up on Forest Road, I remember the Chips hamburger place on Guess Road before it was a Hardees. Chips would give out small toys to the kids. The one I remember specifically was a small, green frog shaped metal toy that clacked when you pressed it. Jim Webster

When I was very young my family would visit that Hardee's on occasion. I can remember sitting at a picnic table behind the restaurant. The building made a huge impression on me, I thought it was the coolest place. 44 years later, I remember it vividly.

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