406 Morehead Ave

406 Morehead, 1965
(Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection)

(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)

The 300 and 400 blocks of Morehead contained a mix of smaller structures, corner groceries, and, as one moved westward, up the hill towards South Duke St., more stately housing.

As you can see in the above photo, Morehead originally ran immediately south of the multi-story Fowler Building at the American Tobacco complex.

These houses were taken down by the city redevelopment authority as part of the urban renewal program.

The East West Expressway was run through this section of Morehead Avenue - in fact, it was where the big fun expressway project got its start.

"Expressway Started, Morehead Avenue - 05.08.67"
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)

Looking west-southwest down Morehead Avenue from near Mangum St., December 1967.
(Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection)

The big swath of asphalt and concrete radically changed the landscape through this area, and clearly cordoned off the area around American Tobacco from the neighborhoods to the south and west.

Morehead was rerouted to become, essentially, a service road for the south side of the Freeway from South Duke to Fayetteville. A present day shot of the original path is hard to take, so you'll have to visually trace the line from the Duke St. intersection to the south end of American Tobacco (by Mellow Mushroom) to get a sense of the path.

Looking north-northeast, 03.16.08