Mv Lawrence House- 213 Liberty St.

35.995031, -78.897546

213
Liberty Street
Durham
NC
Cross Street
North Roxboro Street
Year built
1890s
Year demolished
1970
Architectural style
Queen Anne Victorian
Construction type
Frame
Neighborhood
Downtown East
Use
Residence
Building Type
Residential
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Looking northwest at the corner of Liberty St. and North Roxboro.
(Photo Courtesy Durham County Library - Ralph Rogers Collection)

This beautiful Queen-Anne House was located at the northwest corner of Roxboro and Liberty Streets (across from the current location of the main library.) It was representative of the quality of architecture located in this neighborhood from the late 19th century until the 1960s.

Along with his brother Ernest H. Lawrence, Marshall V. Lawrence (b. 25 Jun 1880 - d. 8 Aug 1951) owned a feed company located at 318 Peabody Street

His house was taken and demolished as part of the Federal Urban Renewal program.

(Urban renewal appraisal photo - Durham County Library)

Same vantage point, 2006:


Looking northwest, 2006. (Copyright G. Kueber)

Aerial view of neighborhood in 1959, MV Lawrence house in red box

(Original from Durham County Library, 1959)

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Comments

Submitted by Binge Cafe (not verified) on Fri, 8/18/2006 - 4:11pm

heartbreaking. We have been driving through the Northampton area, and noting all the brilliant architecture, thinking of what once must have been in Durham. Houses like this one pictured are everywhere, and well kept. We must try to save what we can in the city.

Submitted by Michael Penny on Mon, 1/13/2014 - 11:12pm

This was a really impressive house...and because of its location it was something of a familiar sight.  One couldn't help notice the beautiful stained glass.  When I was a kid during the time of urban renewal my father and I would spend Saturday afternoons going in these abandoned buildings...it was our hobby.  One Saturday we went into this house.  The door wasn't locked...just walked in.  The house was in great condition...beautiful hardwood floors.  The first thing you saw when you entered was a spectacular entrance hall with a winding stair...with a beautiful balustrade...lit by the stain glass.  Upstairs in a bedroom inside an open closet was a diary...with tiny cursive penmanship.  When its author had filled up a page, he or she would then write over it on a angle.  I still have it...it's from 1898.  This is one of the houses I miss most in Durham...and fills me with regret at the idiotic loss.

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