North Durham Graded School

(Courtesy Durham County Library / North Carolina Collection)

The North Durham Graded School was among the 'second wave' of schools established in Durham around the turn of the century, following the establishment of the first graded school for white children in 1892 and the Whitted School for African-American children, located at Ramsey and Proctor Streets, in 1893.

This second wave increased the geographic spread of the city schools to North Durham, Edgemont, the Fuller school downtown, the city high school downtown for white children, and the West End school and East End School for African-American children in those respective areas.

The North Durham Graded School was built in 1901, described as a "two-story and basement brick building 75 feet by 80 feet in size with 10 classrooms.". In 1927, its enrollment was 297, which was described as "filled to capacity." The area to the south west and north was described as "vacant, so the site can be made as large as necessary. The area to the south [was] so attractive and wild that a playground of considerable size should be laid out adjacent to the school.... A 32 room modern school building should be planned, one unit to be built at first; the other to be added as growth requires."

1924 (from the Durham High School Messenger, via Milo Pyne)

Indeed, in 1929, a 'modern' set of classrooms were added to the North Durham School, just to the north of the original structure. (The area to the south was developed as apartment buildings.) This neoclassical structure resembled the contemporaneous Durham High School and Carr Junior High.

Looking northwest, 1950s at the original school and the 1929 structure to its right.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun)

Looking southeast at the rear of the school, 10.21.60
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)

Looking south at the rear of the school 10.21.60. The older portion of the school is the three-story structure, and the breezeway to the left connects it to the 1929 addition.
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)

In 1961, the 1901 portion of the school was demolished.

Looking northwest at the former front of the 1901 school, 07.28.61
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)

Looking west at the former interior of the 1901 school, 07.28.61
(Courtesy The Herald-Sun Newspaper)

The 1929 portion of the school soldiered on for several years after this, but by the late 1970s, the school had been decommissioned, and the structure converted to offices for the Durham City Schools.

The structure was the starting point for TROSA, which Durham County agreed to lease to the new organization for $1 a year, beginning in 1994. It appears that TROSA later purchased the structure/land from the county. I'm not sure which operations they run out of this facility presently.

Former North Durham Graded School Site, looking northwest from W. Geer and North Sts., 06.23.08

Former North Durham Grammar School (1929 addition) looking west-northwest from W. Geer and North Sts, 06.23.08. (Photo by G. Kueber)