Jordan Building

The Jordan Building, at 213 West Main St., is one of the oldest buildings remaining in downtown, built sometime between 1898 and 1902. In the above shot, taken around the turn of the century, one can see the small frame structures on either side that the new commercial structures such as the Jordan building replaced.

Soon, this filled in with other structures.

Looking south, ~1910
(Courtesy Durham County Library)

In the picture below, taken from the corner of Corcoran and West Main, looking southwest, it is the last building in the row moving left to right (mostly obscured by the streetcar.)

Looking south/southwest, 1905

A closer view of the block - more of the windows are visible on the Jordan Building in this shot. (incidentally, the building directly to the west of the Wright building - 2nd from left in this shot - may be one of the oddest buildings I've seen.)
Looking southwest, 1910s.
(Courtesy Duke Archives)

The Jordan building was the home of the Lipscomb-Gattis (later Gattis-Newton) clothing company, although it housed a variety of other tenants.

Looking south/southwest, 1920s - 1930s.
(Courtesy Duke Archives)

By the late 1950s, the building housed two jewelry stores and the Durham Optical Co.

(Courtesy Herald-Sun)

By the 1960s, the building was home to a pharmacy and the Martin Jewelry Company, in addition to the Durham Optical Co.

Looking south/southwest, 1965.
(Courtesy Durham County Library)

In the 1970s, Martin Jewelry became the Jewel Box

Looking southeast, 1970s

As of 2006, it housed the Main St. Pharmacy.

Looking south, 2006.

Looking south/southwest, 2007.

Update: as of 2011, the building's first floor entries had been renovated to house Main Street Pharmacy on the east side and Dolly's Vintage on the west side. Although I'm not a fan of the clear-coated wood-cased entries - seems like they should be selling kayaks - I'm glad to see energy and effort towards creating more vibrant retail storefronts on Main Street.