Mystery Photo - 03.25.10

My first thought was Wake Place looking east toward Elizabeth Street.

I thought the same thing.

Ho Ho Ho,
This could have been one of so many streets in East Durham.Off Angier Ave,off Liberty St. off E.Main St.You name it, you have it.
The thing so wonderful about it all,we were poor but we didn't know it.We had family,friends and
neighbors.Children played safely in yards,in the streets.
How times have changed!

Could this be Gordon St., the little dirt road (still a dirt road, last time I was there), that connects Yancey & Jackson?

Clue: Look for an outdoor restaurant. I'm sure that's a stove in the front yard! : )

The problem is there are no houses on the East side of Powe street. However, in the Mystery Photo, there appear to be houses on both sides.

Powe St.looks close but it looks like 402 Powe St. is on the corner with Hull. In the picture it's not on the corner but several houses are beyond it.

The houses are on the east side of the street facing west based on the shadows.

The upslope is fairly steep, even for Durham -- the camera was level with the porch floor of the house on the left, and the car parked alongside the road is clearly facing down a pretty good decline. I looked around East Durham on the historical topo maps available in Google Earth, and there weren't that many possibilities -- it's got to be a small residential street with houses on both sides. The road climbs a hill, probably headed east, based on the angle of the autumn sun coming in from the right.

A shot in the dark: Lowry Ave, facing east from near where it starts at Calvin St. The house on the left just might be 1013 Lowry Ave. The house behind it in the photo would have to have been torn down and replaced with the "garden apartments" at 1015 Lowry Ave. There's still an old curb for a driveway. And the telephone pole in the photo is still standing, in approximately the right place compared to the house...

Here's a Google Street View link for the area I mentioned in the previous comment:

http://bit.ly/cGgq32

i think toby's right on point

I think Toby got it. At first glance I was thinking somewhere around the South St area, maybe Hillside or Chestnut, etc.

I've been looking at the photo again and I agree Toby is probably right but here are a few differences I see. I know the house on the left has obvious major changes if it is the house in the mystery photo. Looks to me that the roof line has more pitch in the mystery photo. I don't know if that's something someone would have changed. There is a chimney in the mystery photo and none on the house on Lowery. Also 2 windows on the front of the house and only one on Lowery. With that said I still agree in is a good possibilty. Nice job Toby

Ok boys and girls.
I went down on Lowry and took some pictures. In the original there looks to be the house, driveway opening and then about 10 feet of shrubs going to the telephone pole.
In my photo there is the house, the driveway and then the pole. No ten foot of shrub or land. On the original it looks like a chimney on the left side of the house. In my photo the side chimney is gone and there are two on the ridge. One halfway and one all the way back. I can see taking the side one out but not building two new chimneys out of brick. The middle one would be a lot of work. On the front porch on the original photo the door seems centered. On my photo the door is off center to the right.
Also the roof pitch looks steeper on the original photo. It looks like a 12/12 and my photo looks like an 8/12. With all that said it could be the same house. The steepness of the road sure looks the same. You can look on Bing maps Birdseye view about the chimneys and also Google maps.
Rob
Catsburg55@gmail.com

Fans of the ED Mystery Photo might also like Mitch Fraas' recent posting over at Durham Maps. He's got a slew of LOC pictures, including a bunch of "Negro quarter of Durham" shots with our favorite landmarks in the background.

http://durhammaps.blogspot.com/2010/03/durham-photos-at-library-of-cong…

My gut tells me this road is still out there -- and still unpaved. According to a HS story from 2003, Durham has 28 miles of unpaved roadway. These 28 miles are on 208 different steets (or portions thereof).

Here's a shot in the dark. I showed this picture to my mom and she seems to think this may be Dale St. in Edgemont. We lived on Dale St in the early sixties and I really thought this photo looked familiar. Of course the entire Dale St neighborhood has been rehabbed and none of the old houses are standing. If not it could have been any of the little streets around there maybe Stokes. Really hope someone solves this.

it reminds me of rosedale ave, between bivins & w lakewood over in the forest hills park neighborhood...

google street view link
http://bit.ly/bT1qJX

my initial thought was Lyons Street, also in Edgemont and recently rehabbed. It would make sense based on the comments concerning direction, the photo is taken from north to south orientation. Dale and Lyons both ran uphill headed south. I am going with Lyons Street, though

Being from the neighborhood, this photo was taken on Mt. Vernon St.  The cameraman had his back toward S. Queen St. and was facing Ramsay St.