Speight's Service Station

35.988168, -78.896648

500
Fayetteville Street
Durham
NC
Cross Street
East Pettigrew
Year(s) modified
1950s
Year demolished
~1970
Neighborhood
Hayti
Use
Gas Station
Building Type
Commercial
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Looking south towards East Pettigrew and Fayetteville Streets, 1940s. Speight's service station is to the left.
(Courtesy State of North Carolina Archives)

Theodore Speight came to Durham from Snow Camp, NC in 1932 with 82 cents in his pocket. He began working at a service station upon his arrival, and soon owned the station, a Pure Oil Station located at the southwest corner of East Pettigrew and Fayetteville Streets. Like other Pure Oil Stations I've profiled, Speight's station had the 'cottage style' pitched roof.

Below, a very brief snippet of film showing a drive by Speight's in 1947.




Below, Speight's from "Negro Durham Marches On" in 1949.




In the 1950s, the station was remodeled to resemble the more modern stations being constructed at that time.


Looking west from Fayetteville and East Pettigrew, 1959.
(Courtesy Wayne Henderson)

SpeightsAutoService_1960s.jpeg

Speights, early 1960s.
(Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection)

Speight's appears to have been torn down around 1970. With the shift of Fayetteville St. to the west (so that it could align with a new connector to Elizabeth St.), the site of Speight's became the middle of the new intersection of Fayetteville and East Pettigrew.


Looking west at the former site of Speight's Service Station, 11.24.07

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35.988168 -78.896648

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Comments

Submitted by Bill Parker (not verified) on Tue, 9/30/2008 - 4:20pm

I knew Theodore and Charlie Speight through my father Bob Parker.My Dad trusted them with the repairs on our cars.Although I was young these men always took time with me.Over time I gained a greater understanding of how an automobile worked through them.I thought a lot of them.

Submitted by Christopher (not verified) on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 8:49pm

Is this the same Speight family as the folks who now run the "Speight Auto Repair" at the corner of Barbee & Fayetteville?

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