Wannamaker House

Hmm...I remember North Duke being built, but I don't remember that house.

The field between Fairfield and the Teer House was a favorite for neighborhood kite flyers on weekends. There would be 20-25 people out there flying all kinds of kites some days.

I know the old Darryl's 1881 is hardly a historical landmark in itself, but I'd sure love to know what happened to the fistures that were in it. I used to work there. We were told that the mailboxes in the foyer where from the old Durham post office, many of the chandleiers and wall "junk" were from local estate sales, etc. My dad helped refurbish the old double decker bus that was on the lower floor. In the earlier Darryl's, the builders tried to use locally reclaimed materials. Later, when the chain got bigger, they stopped doing that and just went with cookie cutter furnishigs.

I can confirm that the Roses Stores listings point to their store in North Duke Mall having opened sometime after September 1974, if that helps to date the opening of the mall.

I can just barely remember flying a kite in that field as a child, but boy do I recall when that Darryl's was THE place to go after a Northern High football game. I didn't realize/remember they used local stuff for the interior- it was a cool place. Started by the same folks as the Angus Barn I believe.
-KR

My husband worked in construction on N. Duke mall during the summer of 1974. The mall opened a few months later--late 1974 or early 1975.

Ok folks, so please educate me; where was the original Darryl's? Was it in the mall? Or was it in a freestanding building, like the one that used to be out on 15-501? (The only one I remember.)

GK

Gary,
It was a freestanding building on the Northwest corner of Fairfield and Roxboro Rd facing south. Thad Eure Jr and his partner were the investors for the NC franchise.

Each Darryl's was named for a significant date in the area, hence the one at North Duke was Darryl's 1881 (as you know, the year Durham was incorporated) and they tried to put something in the interior to commemorate that date (like the post office boxes for the 1881 one).

I lugged many trays of ice cream-based pina coladas and plates of ribs up those stairs. :) One of the better waitressing gigs in North Durham at that time.

I think after Darryl's 1881 closed, it was Green's Tavern or something like that for a while. I ate there once, and I think the mailboxes were still in place then, but they had substantially brightened the interior and done away with much of the kitschy antiques.

It's probably been half a dozen restaurants over the years.

Sorry to add further re. Darryl's, but no one has mentioned the building is still standing and is presently Ole NC Barbecue.

The double decker bus is gone, but it still looks like the old Darryl's inside and out.

Keith P.

The 'Old Darryl's/SpaghettiFreddy's/Ole NC BBQ' building has always reminded me of the Weeping Radish/Old Heidelberg Village/Charlie Goodnight's/Steve and Clark's/The Playground building -- it's the other place in Durham where restaurants go to die -- it also had a restaurant that put up new signs, then never opened.

(Ole NC BBQ is the only survivor, having vacated the building for a space in the mall, before returning to the former Darryl's location two years ago.)

What was the number of the Daryl's that used to sit out on Chapel Hill Rd./15/501?

Anon - it appears that it was Darryl's 1881, in reference to the date of the formation of Durham county.

GK

Anon -
The Darryl's on Roxboro Rd. was 1881. The one on Chapel Hill Blvd was a different number, but I don't remember the date they picked, only that it had something to do with UNC-CH. Each store had a different date assigned to it.

This was the site of the Wanamaker home. Family of Philadelphia. Burned in the late 40’s and rebuilt, but largely abandoned in the 50’s. The site was purchased by a group of investors including John Warner (future US Senator) then married to Elizabeth Taylor for the development of a shopping center.

Page

Thank you so much for solving this mystery! Do you know if it was the house of William Wannamaker, Dean of ____ at Duke? A quick search shows that his wife died in 57 and he died in 58, so that might fit with the abandonment of the house.

GK

I think the original Darryl's was on the CH Boulevard. What a place. For any Durham-area 1970's kid, Darryls was a destination. I remember one of the items on the menu described it as "2 big knockers..." which always elicited some wisecrack. No doubt, intended to do so by the management!

Darryl's was, at one point after being Darryl's, a restaurant called "Greenfield's", briefly.

The original Darryl's was in Raleigh, on Hillsborough St. I believe 15-501 was the second. The one & only Darryl's location still open today is in Greensboro.