Merry Christmas, Mom

Mom and I are sitting here Christmas morning. The gift opening is complete. We're planning food and visits to friends and relatives.

I made the following movies to give her a virtual tour of Downtown Durham and of 308westmain. We both enjoyed them; the movies sparked side conversations. And now, for my final gift from her, I ask that she writes something this Christmas morning to last as part of this blog. My mom.....

Thanks for my special gift. I enjoyed the time spent looking at all of the scenery downtown and hope to come visit and enjoy it with you soon. It looks like you've found a great location. I'm proud of you for upgrading this historical building. Wishing you lots of success in your venture. Love, Mom

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Tour of Durham Part I: American Tobacco, Durham Performing Arts and Durham Athletic Center areas
Tour of Durham Part II: 308westmain (front, interior and rooftop)

Drawings, Permits and My Hero

The drawings were completed on Friday, the 12th and were submitted Monday morning to the City. Bring me positive thoughts, prayers, karma and good energy that 1) they are approved to begin construction and 2) the approval process is a short one.

And then we'll focus on whether this can come in under budget.

An excellent article was written about Gary Kueber in the News and Observer. He's sort of a local, cult hero of mine. We've exchanged emails and I think we'll meet as he wants to see the interior of 308westmain. Please give this article a read and then check out his blog if you want to see more of his great work on Durham's architectural and cultural history. There's also a link to it in the left column of this blog.

Cheers.

A Building Birth Story.......Part II

In the first part of the story, Durham's Main Street grew west with my building being built circa 1907. Druggists, working for R. Blacknall, moved to my building and opened their own drug store, sharing space with a physician and an art shop. The westward movement continues......

1911
King, C. E. & Sons are the only business listed at 224 West Main (my buildings address in the early years)

The King brothers, Charles E., Charles H., and Harris L., are still living at 505 Duke Street and listed as druggists. Blacknalls Drug Store is still at 130 West Main (corner of Corcoran and Main) along with Five Points Drug Co. at the corner of Main & Chapel Hill, Main Street Pharmacy at 202 West Main and Rexall Pharmacy on the corner of Corcoran and Main. There are 16 Drug Stores listed in the Directory. Clearly this was a booming business, and perhaps one heading for consolidation.

Furniture also seems to be going through some considation because Herring & Elliott Furniture is now listed at 126 West Main. The Elliott name has moved onto the marque. It's still not tied to my building, I'm using him as the character to drive interest........

1915
My building is still labeled as 224 West Main on the Sanborn maps and Herring & Elliott Furniture Co. is listed in Directory as the tenants. H. H. Herring and B. W. Elliott are listed after the building name, maybe meaning they are co-owners. Benjamin W. Elliott lives at 905 Yancey so he's moved out of living where he works. H. H. Herring is listed as a resident of Spartanburg, SC.

Why B. W. Elliott is interesting to me is he is the great-great grandfather of Kristy, my friend and hair stylist. I've known Kristy for 17 years and even dated her for a time. She remains one of my favorite persons on this planet. Having a connection to her past gives me great pleasure.

C. E. King and Sons are listed at West Main corner Market. I'm not sure which corner, but I suspect what is now known as the Temple Building. Charles H. and Harris L. are still listed as proprietors.

1919
Now my building takes on its current address of 308 West Main. Elliott Furniture Co. (not Herring and Elliott) is listed as the tenant. B. W. is noted as sec-tres, with H. H. being the president.

Benjamin W. moved his home to 114 E. Geer.

1923
Elliott Furniture Co. has moved to 416 West Main. H. H. and B. W. are still proprietors.

Benjamin C. Woodall Sporting Goods moved into 308 West Main.

The building is 15 years old and Durham is growing. The building was home to 3 shops; druggists, furniture and sporting goods. Not an exact parallel to my life but oh well. I've got enough information now to decide how to brand the building.

A Revised Building's Birth Story

Today the Durham Performing Arts Center opens with a show by B. B. King. The weather is "cold and rainy"; hopefully it won't dampen the mood of the evening (I crack myself up).

Tom (the architect) discovered from the Sanborn Maps that my building wasn't always addressed as 308 West Main. In its first 10ish years, the block west of Corcoran was the 200 block, with my building being at 224 West Main. So, here's the Directory search information for 224 West Main, including my cross-references of the business/persons names......

Summary:
From the Directory it appears my building was built pre-1907 and post-1905. The druggists who were employed at R. Blacknall & Sons on on Corcoran and Main in 1905 moved a block west and started their own pharmacy in my building pre-1907. They gave the business their family name. In 1907, the building also contained a physician, an art shop and a person of unknown profession. I've got later years information that I'll save for another post.

Now here's the detail for those freaks like me:

1903
224 West Main was not listed. Nor was "B W Elliott or Herring". (stay with me on the names, they start to make sense in the coming years)

Searching on King I found:
King, Charles E (Haywood and King), home 505 Duke
King, Charles H, drug clk R Blacknall and Son, home 503 Duke
King, Harris L, druk clk R Blacknall and Son, home 503 Duke

Searching on Blacknall I found:
R. Blacknall and Son, Druggists, northeast corner of Main and Corcoran Sts.
I even found some ads so maybe this was a big, important business in town. It was certainly on a prominent corner of the community, what is now a vacant lot.

1905
224 West Main was not listed.

Searching on Elliott I found:
Elliott, Benjamin W, mngr Herring Furniture Co. home 126 West Main

Searching on Herring I found:
Herring Furniture Co, 126 w Main, B W Elliott mngr - phone 473 (so BW lived where he worked?)
I also found this list of salesmen, including some with the "colr" notation. This denotes "colored" which at times had a seperate listing in the Directories.
Cannon, Joseph P (colr); Case, L Baseom; Robinson, W Prince; Thompson, Wade W (colr); Walsh, William E (colr)
I don't know when integrated workforces began in the south, but it seems Herring Furniture Co had one.

1907
Searching on 224 West Main reveals:
Durham Art Shop (Owen Z Wren, William S Marten)
Felts, Robert L. physician home 409 n Mangum
King, C E and Sons (Charles E., Charles H., and Harris ), druggists - phone 106
Woodard, Charles A

So, the building dates 1907 and its first collection of merchants were physicians, druggists and an art shop.

Searching on Elliott reveals:
Elliott, Benjamin W, mngr Herring Furniture Co., home 126 W Main (so he still lived where he worked)

Searching on Herring reveals:
Herring Furniture Co., 126 W Main and East Durham, B W Elliott mngr

Searching on King reveals:
King, C E and Sons (Charles E., Charles H., and Harris L.) druggists 224 W Main - phone 106

Herring and Elliott become part of my buildings history in later years. I'll write more about them in the future, as well as cross-reference the above with the Title search Lynn ran. Gotta run now so I can meet Wayne before he heads off to the show.....

Title Searches

Lynn Harder did some Title searches yesterday. While the information is interesting, it unfortunately did not get me closer to the name I'll attach to the project. "The Radcliffe" might win by default......

Detail for posterity (not interesting, so read at your own risk). I need to research these parties to find anything interesting about them:

• No record of how John Sprunt Hill acquired the property but he did own it. This is interesting because John Sprunt Hill married into the Watts family (American Tobacco family) and built many buildings in Durham/Chapel Hill including the Carolina Inn. His bank later became CCB. This information is exciting to me, but since he owned so many properties, mine is not unique and can't acquire his name.
  
• 17APR 1905 - John Sprunt Hill to E.P. Wharton.
  
• 30JUN 1905 - E.P. Wharton to Southern Real Estate Company
  
• 17MAR 1906 - Southern Real Estate to E.J. Parrish. Might be Parrish of Parrish Street. Interestingly, the property was sold for "that for and in consideration of the sum of ten ($10) dollars and other goods and valuables....".
  
• 24FEB 1912 - E.J. Parrish to H.H. Herring
• 17APR 1918 - H.H. Herring to James S. Perry and devised by said James S. Perry to Mary Susan Perry, now Sudie Barbee Lindsey (whatever that means)
• 27JUN 1956 - Sudie Barbee Lindsey to Trustee for Sudie Barbee Lindsey (The Depositors National Bank of Durham). Perhaps part of a will?
• Then it seems to go into the hands of Alice Lee Barbee Perry because
• 23JUN 1967 - North Carolina National Bank (successor by merger to the Depositors National Bank of Durham) to Alice Lee Barbee Perry. Deed says, "was devised to Alice Lee Barbee Perry by Last Will and Testament", so perhaps Alice Lee got the property some years later when she became an adult?
• 08JAN 1979 - Alice Lee Barbee Perry to George C. Love, Jr.
• 15JAN 1998 - George C. Love, Jr. to Owen D. Wade
• 15JUL 2008 - Owen D. Wade to Barry Radcliffe. This is the date of the Deed filing, closing was actually on 12JUL 2008
  

History of Durham: from 1907 Directory

"Thirty years ago an insignificant village with a population of some five hundred. To-day a city of twenty thousand inhabitants; containing more wealth, larger manufacturing enterprises and greater school facilities than any other city in the State of North Carolina."

I found this Preface from the Durham Directory to be an interesting account of the history of Durham: considering Durham to be a "result" of the Civil War.

Directory accounts are provided by Durham County Library as part of the North Carolina Collection.

Found: First Tenants of 308 West Main

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.