Mystery Photo - 10.15.09

looks like one of the many little houses on west main between Anderson/15th st and Hillsborough, but they're all gabled on the wrong side. Unless the picture is mirror-reversed.... And there's a similar power line back there too....

Good guess, Joseph!

My first thought was W Main St also

Erwin Road, on the way to CH?

Myers

I believe the photo was taken from the Grey Stone Baptist Church near Main & Warner and looking north east up Warner St. towards Hillsborough Rd. The road appears to be dirt. The high tension wires are still there as are both of these houses. If my guess is correct, that would make the house in the distance (maybe) 721 Warner.

yeah, my two cents is also that the photo was taken on West Main, near Warner and Trent streets, and that the photo's flipped

Look at the front door. Is that a scratch on the negative, or a door knob on the unlikely right side of the door that would open to the left?

I agree with anon, I believe it is 721 Warner Street looking northwest. A link to Google maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=4119+Talcott+Dr,+Du…

FWIW, the sun looks to be pretty high in the sky, because of the angles of the roofline shadows against the house. So I'd say the photograph was taken within a couple hours of noon. The house roughly faces south, and the road runs roughly east-west, whether the photograph is flipped or not.

If the photo is not flipped, then the camera is looking roughly northeast. if it's flipped, I guess it's looking roughly northwest.

Hope that helps. :)

721 Warner looks like a match.

According to the Durham County site, it was built in 1909 and is currently owned by Greystone Baptist Church.

Timely Mystery Photo. Two of the mill houses on Sunday's Home Tour look like this house. Now's your chance to step inside...

Kindly join us for the Old West Durham Home Tour on Sunday, Oct 18 (1-5pm). Sunday's weather is looking good.

$5 tour ticket includes a 16-page booklet with map, history & time-line of West Durham and descriptions of each house on the tour (available at the Regulator).

Volunteers will welcome you inside century-old mill houses, restored bungalows, a Sears & Roebuck house, the Prohibition House, and an old parsonage. Ten homes in all.

What is known as Old West Durham today was settled before the railroad came to Durham in the mid-1800s. A story in the local newspaper at the time described the early character of the neighborhood: "It is remarkable for a race that was run there many years ago by a man and a woman. They wore no clothes and ran for a quart of liquor." UNC students would come to "go on a lark."

Tour starts anytime after 1:00 at Green & Virgie (where you can also buy tickets on the day of the tour for $10).

Here's a description of a mill house on the tour that's similar to the one in today's Mystery Photo...

* Bertie Davis House, 906 Carolina Avenue (ca. 1909)

The "T"-shaped house was a popular style in mill villages throughout North Carolina in the early twentieth century. 906 Carolina was the home of William and Bertie Davis. Bertie was a “loom fixer” at the No. 4 Spinning Room at Erwin Mills Cotton Factory. William was in the No.1 Weave Room.

These houses were originally built for a mill worker who had a family. The Davises had eleven children. Thirteen people lived in 900 square feet with two bedrooms and one bath. Bertie, the anchor of the family, was well loved in her community. Her nephews still come knocking on the door in 2009. They tell stories of her taking care of many of the neighborhood children. The babies would sleep in dresser drawers. Older children used the driveway as a vital cut-through to E.K. Powe elementary school.

Bertie slept in the back bedroom of the house and William slept in the front bedroom, a common practice at the time, particularly if one family member worked a night shift. William would sometimes leave for extended periods and Bertie would rent his room for extra income.

Bertie lived in this house for over 50 years. She passed away at the Durham Rest Home and Retirement Center after her 100th birthday in 1995. Pictures of Bertie and her family are on display.

The present owner added 500 square feet plus a large screened-porch and deck in 2006.

I believe it to be Main Street as well.

lwn

I believe it to Be Main Street as well.

lwn

This mystery house was located on Rutherford St, just off HIllsboro Rd. This house faced Burlington Industries. I reconized this house/photo from growing up in the area .