A search of the Durham Directory from 1903 reveals the business listed at 308 West Main to be Standard Mercantile Co. Here is the page from that Directory (click to enlarge). Earlier Directories do not list this address, and instead stop at 302 West Main (the corner of Market and Main). Perhaps the street didn't extend west past Market until 1903.
My research didn't find much about "Installment Houses" other than they appear to be loan companies for personal merchandise; unlike banks who loaned for business reasons. Would like to know more.
Raymond J. Davis was the proprietor of Standard Mercantile Co. and lived at 418 Warren. I tried to find more, but the business was gone from this location by 1905. I found a Raymond J. Davis listed as manager of Masters & Agee Co. of Charlotte, NC., some years later. Perhaps he continued moving south and west?
The 1905 Directory shows William J. Carter, an electrician, to be running a business in my building. Later in 1907, two business owners are listed at 308 West Main: Benjamin T. Tingen, a confectioner whose home was at 111 Jones; and Jacob H. Wheeler, a shoemaker who lived at 209 Morris.
I hope to find someone to run a title search for the land in these early years. That will complete some of these stories.
I DID discover the answer to what comes after "ELLIOTT" on the back of the building. Stay tuned.
1 comment:
Hey Barry,
Tom here at Center Studio Architecture. I have been doing research on 308 West Main for ya in order to pursue tax credits and permits. I noticed you found a directory entry for 308 W. Main in 1903. The problem is, in 1907, the building's address was 224 West Main Street (according to the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of that year). This is because they periodically re-write the addresses. So, that means at that time, 308 West Main was actually west of five points. I have a Sanborn Map from 1907 showing it if you are curious...
Post a Comment