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(Courtesy Duke Archives)
The buildings along the west side of the 200 block of North Church St. are a very-well preserved block of early 20th century structures. The Hicks building, on the northwest corner of North Church and East Parrish, and its immediate 3 neighbors to the north were constructed around 1910. 209-211 North Church, at the northern end of the row, was constructed somewhat later, between 1923 and 1928, for the Durham Laundry, which had been located next door at 205-207 N. Church.
The Durham Laundry was not housed there long; they constructed a new facility at 822 West Peabody St. (the corner of South Gregson) in 1926. The building on North Church St. was then occupied by the Dillon Supply Co., which occupied the building until 1942. They then joined their predecessors west of downtown on West Peabody St. (the corner of South Duke.)
The building was occupied by Dub Sandwich Company for several years, and from 1960 until 2001 it was owned by J.H. Cook and Sons Leather goods, used primarily for storage.
The row of buildings in the 1970s - 209-211 is at the far end of the row.
In 2004-2005, the building was purchased and completely and impressively renovated with an upstairs residential area, a downstairs rear garage, and a downstairs anterior retail space.
Looking southwest, 2007.
These buildings are a great cluster of contiguous historic structures - they are just too isolated with the desolate landscape to the east and southeast. Although, as of 2011, the ongoing lease-up of Greenfire's Rogers Alley project to the west has meant that this fantastic block 'feels' closer to people than it has in years.
09.10.11
Comments
Submitted by Cal Coetzee (not verified) on Mon, 10/17/2011 - 8:17am
History of 209 N. Church Street
209 N. Church Street in Durham, in the Downtown Durham Historical District. The two-story brick building dates back to the first decades of the Twentieth Century. It does not appear on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from May 1898, April 1902, August 1907, or from 1913. But by 1937, the Sanborn map shows a two-story structure marked as 209. N. Church St. In order to establish when between 1913 and 1937 the structure was built, we examined the Durham City Directory (Polk or Hill) on microfilm. Since the 1923 Directory does not have a listing for 209-211 N. Church Street, but the 1924 Directory shows The Durham Laundry at that address, it appears that the structure was built between 1923 and 1924.
The metes-and-bounds description of the property recites the following:
Beginning at a point in the property line on the west side of Church Street, at a point North 38 degrees 00 minutes East 98.9 feet from the building line on the north side of Parrish Street, said point being the northeast corner of lot No. 4 as shown on the map hereinafter referred to, and running thence along the north line of Lot No. 4 North 52 degrees, 00 minutes West 74.6 feet to a stake; thence North 36 degrees 42 minutes East 44 feet to a stake, the southwest corner of lot No. 7; thence along the south line of lot No. 7 South 52 degrees 00 minutes East 77.4 feet to a point in the property line on the west side of Church Street; thence along and with the said property line 38 degrees 00 minutes West 44 feet to a point, the place and point of beginning, and being the major portion of lots 5 and 6 of the J. N. Umstead property as shown on map thereof by Rufus Massey, surveyor, dated April 12, 1901 and recorded in the Durham County Registry in Deed Book 24 at page 282, to which map reference is hereby made for a more particular description of the said lots.
The map of the Umstead property (is perhaps less useful than the description would have one think. The lots referred to are not numbered, to my eye. But it is possible to divine which tracts are the subject of this description by counting and assuming.
Directly to the south of 209 is a building, which predates it considerably; #207 was built between 1898 and 1902. This adjacent building, numbered 207 N. Church Street, appears to have been a free-standing blacksmith shop in the 1902 map—there had been blacksmith located at the corner of Church and Parrish in the 1898 map, but no other buildings between it and the Methodist Church now known as Trinity Methodist. 207 was marked, along with a building to its south, as a wholesale grocery operation on the 1907 map, and as the Durham Laundry in the 1913 map, its sister at 205 having become a furniture repair shop in the interim.
The property came into the hands of Cal J. Coetzee and Lisa G. Shimotakahara on May 27, 2004, deeded by Allen D Cook, Vice President acting on behalf of the corporate entity, J. H. Cook & Sons, Inc.
The Grantor acquired the property in a transaction on November 25, 1958 (recorded in Book 253 Page 567 in Durham County's Records of Deeds) from Lottie Gertrude Vickers and her husband, H. E. Vickers. Ms. Vickers may have been affiliated with the family of the Vickers Real Estate firm in Durham and/or with Vickers Avenue, a street in Durham. Ms. Vickers had acquired her lot by purchase from the Dillon Supply Company in 1944. The lot she acquired was slightly smaller than the original lot purchased and sold in prior transactions, such as the sale by Durham Laundry Company to Dillon Supply in 1927.
Dillon Supply Company was originally in the business of mill supplies, but later expanded into industrial supplies and machinery, water systems, heating equipment and high- and low-pressure boilers, and equipment and supplies for contractors. They were originally established in 1914, according to their listing in the 1972 Durham City Directory. However, they did not acquire these premises until November 8, 1927. Dillon Supply Company was listed in the Durham Directory as recently as 1989; the 1990 edition does not contain any reference to the company.
Dillon Supply Company acquired the premises from The Durham Laundry on November 8, 1927 (Durham County Record of Deed Book 90 Page 231). The Laundry had a branch at this location; their main facility was at 113 S. Gregson at the corner of Peabody Street. For some time in the 1970s, they also had a location at 1058 West Club Boulevard in the Northgate Mall. The Durham Laundry was listed as Mce-Durham Laundry at the S. Gregson St. address in the Durham City Directory for 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1981-82. By 1983, they were no longer listed in the Directory.
Durham County Deed Book Research
Book
Page
Date
Grantee
4408
450
5/27/2004
Charl COETZEE & Lisa SHIMOTAKAHARA
253
567
11/25/1958
J. H. COOK & SONS, INC.
150
495
5/2/1944
Mrs Lottie Gertrude VICKERS[1]
90
231
11/8/1927
DILLON SUPPLY COMPANY[2]
80
316
2/8/1926
DURHAM LAUNDRY COMPANY
47
681
1/15/1915 AS CORRECTEDBY DEED AT BOOK 55 PAGE 680 ON 2/8/26
L. J. Jones and wife Lula H. Jones
1//2/15
Foreclosure Sale by Fouchee, Trustee (See Deed of Trust 67/232) due to apparent default[3]
Polk City Directory (or Hill City Directory) Research
Year
Address
Occupant
2005
209
None
2004
209
None
2003
209
None
2002
209
None
2001
209
J. H. Cook & Sons, Inc.
Leather Goods 'fu 683-1288
2000
209
J. H. Cook & Sons, Inc.
Nondurable Goods
1995
209
J. H. Cook & Sons, Inc.
Leather Dealers
1990
209
“ “
“ “
1985
209
The Durham Printery, 682-9231
1980
209
“ “ 688-7771
1975
209
“ “ “ “
1970
209
“ “ “ “
1964
209
“ “ “ “
Switch from Books to Microfilm records
1960
209
Vacant
1955
209-211
207
Vacant
J. H. Cook & Sons, Inc.
Wholesale Leather
1950-51
209
J. H. Cook & Sons, Inc. (called 207)
1940
209-211
Dillon Supply Company
Mill supplies
1939
209-211
Dillon Supply Company
Mill supplies
1931
209-211
Dillon Supply Company
Mill Supplies
1930[4]
209
211
Dillon Supply Company
Durham Laundry Company (branch of the main Laundry located at S. Gregson & Peabody)
1929
207
209-211
Vacant
Dillon Supply Company
& The Durham Laundry (branch)
Mill Supplies
1928
207
209
Vacant
The Durham Laundry (branch) & Dillon Supply Company
1927
207
209-211
Vacant
Dillon Supply Company & The Durham Laundry (branch)
1926
207
209-211
Vacant
The Durham Laundry
1925
207
209-211
Vacant
The Durham Laundry
1924
207
209-211
Vacant
The Durham Laundry
1923
205-207
209-211
The Durham Laundry
NO LISTING
1922
205-207
209-211
The Durham Laundry
NO LISTING
1921
205
205-207
209-211
Durham Dry Cleaners
The Durham Laundry
NO LISTING
1919-20
205
205-207
209-211
Model Dry Cleaners
The Durham Laundry
NO LISTING
[1] Dimensions 76 X 44 X 77.4 X 44'
[2] Dimensions 84.5 X 44 X 86 X 44'
[3] The default occurred as follows: On 11/11/1912, the Fidelity Trust and Development Company signed a deed of trust (Book 67 Page 232) and delivered it to W L Foushee, Trustee, as security for a debt of $1854.98 owed to Mrs. Nancy M. Tatum ($1700) and F. C. Geer ($154.98), due one year later. The debt was not paid as required, so the Trustee sold the property at public sale on 1/2/1915. L J Jones was the highest bidder at $3250.
[4] Hill Directory Company
Submitted by gary on Thu, 10/20/2011 - 8:24am
Thanks Cal!
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