A historic section of troubled East Durham has a new lease on life. On December 23, 2004, the National Park Service placed a 50-square-block area (226 acres) with 950 structures in East Durham on the National Register of Historic Places. The East Durham National Register District will be Durham’s largest historic neighborhood, and has the highest percentages of contributing properties. The designation means not only that the area’s character can be better protected, but property owners can qualify for state and federal tax credits ranging from 30% to 40% on restoration investments.

The new district is bounded by the railroad tracks and Vale Street on the south, North Guthrie Avenue on the east, Holloway Street on the north, Hyde Park Avenue on the west. Historic districts are determined based on the concentration of historic structures, their degree of integrity, and the demonstration that the neighborhood as a whole contributes architecturally and historically to the fabric of history. Preservation Durham completed a survey of a large portion of East Durham including over 1600 structures and in 2001 successfully added the proposed district to the State Study List. During the winter of 2003 and spring of 2004, HPSD and its consultant, Ruth Little of Longleaf Historic Resources, conducted the necessary research to complete the National Register Nomination.

Several streets that grew up around the old Durham Cotton Manufacturing Company, founded by Julian S. Carr, feature giant, leafy trees that act as a canopy over the roadway. Pyramidal cottages, cozy bungalows, and gable-and-wing houses dot the area. These homes are historically and architecturally distinct from mill villages to the south and west because they were built as private homes. The majority of lots in the district were platted and sold by the Durham Land and Security Company, formed in 1886 by banker Eugene Morehead, attorney W.W. Fuller, Robert I. Rogers, owner of the Durham Marble and Brownstone works, and Dr. John L. Watkins, a leaf tobacco dealer. The Kirkland Brothers developed the area from Liberty Street to Holloway Street in the late 1930s.

The trolley once trundled down Angier Avenue and Driver Street. Carr Methodist Church and the East Durham Baptist Church got their start in connection with the nearby mill. Other local landmarks have included Fidelity Bank on South Driver Street, the 1920s-era showplace home owned by Dr. George Ross at 2111 E Main Street, and Seagroves Grocery.

To learn more about this vibrant and historic part of Durham order your copy of Preservation Durham’s East Durham Pattern Book. With floor plans and dozens of photographs of architectural details of the historic homes of East Durham, this is an invaluable resource to renovators. Copies are also available on line as a downloadable pdf file.