205 Watts St.

36.002804, -78.911492

205
Durham
NC
Year built
1910
Architectural style
Construction type
National Register
Neighborhood
Use
Building Type
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200 block of Watts St., west side, looking south - 1926. The Beverly Apartments are visible at the end of the block.

205 Watts Street is the second house on the right.

This c. 1910 Neo-Colonial house is similar to 203 Watts St. in form. The hipped roof holds a hip-roofed dormer on the north side elevation. Paired four-over-one windows are found in both stories. A full-facade porch carries a one-bay hip-roofed, shingle-sheathed balcony. (From the 1986 NR nomination; not verified for accuracy.)


Same block, 07.26.10

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36.002956,-78.911492

Comments

I've always been curious as to why and when Watts was made one-way south of Trinity. The residents of those few blocks have a nice little enclave with very little cut through traffic, as vehicles southbound on Watts are forced over to Buchanan or Gregson. Somebody in one of these beautiful homes must have been quite well connected politically - at least more so than the people in the blocks north of Trinity. I'd like to see it made two way again.

This clearly shows the danger of leaving up historic housing. Had this all been torn down, this might be a nice street, instead of the run-down, low income ghetto that it's turned into.

That part of Watts was one-way as early as 1985, when I lived on one of the houses in the picture. Speed bumps have also been added since then, along with an additional stop sign at Green, a more restrictive light at Trinity, and a lowered speed limit along the entire street. It's also hard to get out the Northgate end, where you have to make a right turn; the left-bearing spur of Guess from Watts was also removed, further obstructing traffic.

The funny thing to me is that, AFAIK, there's still a lot of rentals on Watts, even on the tonier, one-way end.

BTW, those "sleeping porches" as shown at 205 and 203 are awesome. :)

That part of Watts was one-way when I was in elementary school (1958-63). I remember riding my bike from Green St. to my best friend's house in that section of Watts many times.

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