Looking east, 1940s
(Courtesy Duke RBMC - Wyatt Dixon collection)
So, the location of this picture remained an obsession of mine for quite awhile - it appears in Joel Kostyu's book, without any location identification - nor is the location identified in the original Wyatt Dixon column it appeared with. Eventually, I got my hands on the original, and scanned it at high enough resolution to be able to read the street sign - "Adrian St." is what it says.
I then thought perhaps it wasn't actually Durham, but there was an Adrian St., now named Newman St.
Same viewpoint, 10.22.10 - looking west from Newman and Ramseur. (Photo by Gary Kueber)
The picture gives a good sense of how residential Hood Street, Adrian,S. Elizabeth, and Ramseur were well into the early to mid 20th century, as is clear from this mid-century bird's eye view:
1950 view across Durham Hosiery Mills No. 1 and No. 6, looking southwest. (Herald-Sun)
The residential uses have almost completely disappeared - the boarded up apartment building at 215 Hood and a few small residential structures (one of which recently burned) on Newman aside. A few other reminders, such as the patterned brick sidewalk on Ramseur, remain
704 Ramseur Street was built for the Borden Brick and Tile Company. (Photo by Gary Kueber)
09.08.2006
It's been painted since the above picture.
It's currently used as a church.
I feel like this area is a truly missed opportunity - if only 305 South could have survived long enough to see Golden Belt open, the Bull City Connector, etc. And if the county hadn't been so bound and determined to plow under two blocks of historic structures for parking, this area could be seeing the kind of growth that Geer/Rigsbee/Foster is now seeing, which could provide some much needed activity between Roxboro and Golden Belt. But if the local government keeps shutting down and plowing under structures for people to revitalize and overbuilding parking, it cannot happen. This isn't some radical notion - I don't understand why it doesn't sink in.
06.25.13
(Photo by Gary Kueber)
Comments
Submitted by Rick (not verified) on Mon, 11/8/2010 - 12:42pm
Looks like it says Borden Brick on the sign in the background. Great pictue.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 11/8/2010 - 3:01pm
I feel sad at the mention of 305 South...so ahead of their time.
so wow, Adrian/Newman isnt even really a street anymore? just a sort of gravel road?
TSQ75
Submitted by Andrew Edmonds (not verified) on Mon, 11/8/2010 - 7:14pm
Rick, the 1937 Sanborn map shows the full name of the business as "Borden Brick & Tile Co."
Gary, what do you know about the Floyd Coal Company? That's on whose land the photographer was standing -- would the ice truck have belonged to them, or just some random entrepreneur?
Submitted by Andrew Edmonds (not verified) on Mon, 11/8/2010 - 7:15pm
Oh, and your contemporary shot is more north-by-northwest than east. Nice sleuthing, by the way.
Submitted by Gary (not verified) on Tue, 11/9/2010 - 8:23pm
Andy
City Ice and Coal, which I mentioned in my post about the Murdock Ice and Coal Co. was also located on Ramseur, but my guess would be that this belonged to Floyd Coal Co. - it seems that coal and ice purveying went hand-in-hand.
GK
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 11/11/2010 - 4:03am
I had not heard the name Borden Brick and Tile Co. I passed it hundreds of times as a kid growing up in east Durham where Miami and 70 split just south of the Highway Patrol station. I honestly don't know if there is anything left of Borden Brick and Tile. Maybe they moved.....again?
Seth
Submitted by Andrew Edmonds (not verified) on Sat, 12/4/2010 - 2:17am
The 1913 Sanborn map shows that Adrian was formerly called "Frat Alley". I wonder why?!
Submitted by Gary (not verified) on Sat, 12/4/2010 - 12:19pm
I've speculated that it was in some way related to the dormitory for the Methodist Seminary located on Hood St., but that's a significant stretch.
GK
Submitted by John Schelp (not verified) on Sun, 12/5/2010 - 12:21pm
I have a brick from the old Commonwealth/Morven's Cotton Mill. On the brick is etched:
[B]ORDEN BRICK & TILE CO.
GOLDSBORO, NC
[First letter is damaged/illegible.]
Morven Mill's last remaining building, the old mill office on South Holman, was demolished earlier this year. The brick came from the office door on S. Holman (ie. footstep/threshold).
Commonwealth/Morven's Cotton Mill... http://endangereddurham.blogspot.com/2007/11/commonwealth-morvern-cotto…
Submitted by adawccpi (not verified) on Wed, 6/26/2013 - 4:18pm
Borden Brick and Tile was a Goldsboro based company that had offices and finally a brick yard in Durham (at the 70? Miami Boulevard Split). They supplied brick for much of 1920's and 1930's Durham. Recently when the Hope Valley entrance gates were hit by a truck, the interior bricks exposed had "Borden Brick and Tile" embossed on them. The Borden Family sold the business to the Boren Brick Company in the late 1980's early 1990's. The several generations of Bordens are still Durham residents.
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