1912 Carden Alley

(Below in italics is from the 2004 East Durham National Register listing; not verified for accuracy by this author.)

House. 1-story side-gable house with such late Craftsman features as German siding, 4- over-1 vertical sash windows, a Craftsman-style gable end chimney, and a gabled porch with Craftsman brick piers. The porch has replacement metal posts. A house stands here on the 1913 SM, but was probably replaced by this house. 

What a difference a nice paint job makes! The tax records show a much bleaker version of this home. 

I agree with the National Register listing in that this home has features generally more associated with a decade or two later, but sure enough there was a house listed on the 1913 Sanborn map of very similar shape(see below). I'm not the best at deciphering Sanborn maps but it looks like it could be the same building with perhaps later Craftsman features added in the form of the porch in later years. In 1917, this section of street was called Wall Street instead of Carden Alley. The western part of Wall Street is present day Vale Street.  Here is a Sanborn map of the street in 1913, with  1912 Carden Alley being the 2nd to the last house on the right of Wall Street.  I imagine the loosely scattered buildings just south of 1912 Carden/Wall Street form the future Carden Alley in it's N/S form. 

In comparison, here's the 1937 SM.

In 1939 the home was occupied by Mrs. Lizzie Bordeaux, widow of Dolphus Bordeaux (whose name is now being added to my "Most Awesome Names in Durham's Past" list). Mrs. Bordeaux worked in textiles. 

The 1959 CD lists the occupant as Rosa Marcom Vickers, who used to live at 1907 Carden Alley with her husband Lucius, but moved to this house after he passed away.