Last week, I got a call from a woman asking how to determine if a building is historic—a question we get often. After some research, I found no records of it in historic districts or surveys, which wasn’t surprising given its location in an under-documented area south of downtown (and evidence that Durham County needs and updated historic resources survey!). When I shared this, she wasn’t deterred. Instead, she told me stories of growing up in the neighborhood and working in the family store that once operated out of it. The property had been in her family for four generations and she now owned it with another family member who wanted to tear it down. Before she could agree, she needed to share its history.
That’s how I found myself at the property last Saturday, documenting her memories and the building itself. It was her first visit in 20 years, a family gathering filled with storytelling. I took pages of notes and photos, planning to add the site to Open Durham as a memorial since the building may not be here much longer. While I always advocate for preservation, sometimes what truly needs saving are the memories, and that’s exactly what Open Durham allows us to do.
We all have the opportunity to document our changing city. Anyone can add a site or story to Open Durham—Preservation Durham certainly can’t do it alone! The best part of Saturday’s visit? Hearing other family members say, “I never heard that story.” So here’s my spring plea: share your stories of Durham. Add them to Open Durham, even if it’s just a personal anecdote in a comment. Every story matters—especially when the buildings are gone.
Durham is changing fast, and it’s easy to feel disoriented and discouraged. Trust me, I have to remind myself daily that we cannot save every building. But Saturday’s visit reinforced what Preservation Durham can do when a structure can’t be saved—we can preserve its stories. We’ve been training volunteers in plaque research and collaborating with more amateur historians to update Open Durham. Every contribution helps ensure our city’s history and collective memory isn’t lost.
P.S. It’s hard to believe the first quarter of 2025 is already over! We’ve been busy at Preservation Durham and can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on with you at the Annual Members Meeting on May 13 at the Carolina Theatre.
This year, the meeting is open to the public and combined with our home tour lecture—perfect for anyone curious about what we do. You’ll also learn about our plaque program and get a sneak peek of the home tour. Admission is free, but please register via this link. See you there!
Get your early-bird tickets today for the 2025 tour
May 17-18, 12-4pm!
As we round off the end of our 50th anniversary, we wanted to continue the celebration of Durham’s history and Preservation Durham’s impact in helping share that history by highlighting our plaque program as this year’s home tour theme. It was a difficult decision to choose only nine houses from nearly 300 plaques but we are so excited to highlight these home and share their history with you. Each home has a unique story, represented through the history of each individual that lived in them. Each property’s history is recognized with a plaque, paying homage to those who came before, while celebrating the evolution of the homes by the current home owners.
Our roster is unique in that it spans across multiple neighborhoods, decades, and styles. We also have a mix of homeowners who did the research or applied for a plaque themselves. Which brings us to another date to save: May 13th from 5:30-7:30pm at the Carolina Theatre. May 13th is the date of our home tour lecture and annual member’s meeting. The home tour lecture will feature a panel of guests to share the history of some of the houses featured on this year’s tour, as well as the process that goes into researching each one. Registration for the lecture and member’s meeting will be available on our website later this month.
Snag your early bird tickets while they last! Tickets are $30 for members and $40 for general admission. Prices will increase May 1 so don’t wait!
Do you love history, architecture, and seeing how people make a house a home? Do you like meeting new people? If the answer to either or both of those questions is yes, then you should volunteer as a docent for our home tour this year! We’re in need volunteers for both days of the home tour. The minimum commitment is 2 hours and you can sign up for one or both days of the tour. We’ll give you all the information you need and you’ll never be alone. Volunteers get to attend the home tour FOR FREE on either day and join us for the after-party. Sign-up with a friend and make it a date!
Walking tours are back this spring and summer! After the successful launch of the Cocktails and Cornices tour last year, we’re offering six dates for you to check out the tour yourself this year. The tour will be held (weather pending) throughout April-September from 5:30-7pm. The tour is free for Preservation Durham members and $12 for general admission. Check out the tour page for more information and to register for what are sure to be sold out tours.
Preservation Durham is switching it up this year! We are excited to host both our annual meeting and our home tour lecture on May 13th at The Carolina Theatre. Both of these events are free events open to the public, and we are so excited to share more information about our organization and our annual home tour.
The annual meeting is a time for us to share our accomplishments from the past year, discuss our plans for the current year, nominate new board members (which Preservation Durham members are welcome to vote for), and give attendees the opportunity to become a Preservation Durham member. We have been able to take on many new projects and programming in the past year, and we look forward to discussing how we plan to continue to expand our efforts in preserving historic Durham.
Following our annual meeting, we will proceed with our home tour lecture; a moderated conversation about the ins and outs of our plaque program. We will be joined by moderator, Alicia Hylton-Daniel of Hylton Daniel Design/Build, along with local researchers, historians, and homeowners of some of the homes on the tour. We will cover numerous topics related to Preservation Durham's plaque program including: the ins and outs of the research process, what having a historic plaque means, and fun anecdotes that our speakers have learned about their own sites and other sites they have conducted research on.
The Panelists: Our panelists include two homeowners whose homes will be on the tour; Alicia Hylton-Daniel, owner of the James W. and Lola R. Weatherly House, and Ryan Gray, owner of the Manning House famously featured in "Bull Durham." We will also have multiple researchers and historians, including plaque researchers Rob Emerson and Shelley Dekker, and local historian Dr. Andre' Vann.
Be a part of a community conversation about racially discriminatory housing in Durham County! Join Hacking into History on Thursday, April 10th, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm for a community listening session at 1809 Chapel Hill Road, Durham.With support from a North Carolina Humanities grant, Hacking into History is developing a public educational exhibit about the history and lasting harms of racial covenants. These covenants are clauses that were written into Durham property deeds to prevent a group of people, non-white and usually African Americans, from buying or occupying land, and even being laid to rest in burial plots. As a member of our community, you have a vital voice in shaping the direction of this project. We will share more about the Hacking into History project and the legacy of racial covenants in Durham. Your thoughts and input will help define our goals for the exhibit.Food will be provided. Please reserve your spot(s) to help plan accordingly.
Keep Durham Beautiful
Second Annual Garden Tour!
April 26-27, 2025
Keep Durham Beautiful is hosting their second annual garden tour this April 26-27! The garden tour will include “8-10 distinctive gardens featuring examples of sustainable and creative design here in our in very own community.” Keep Durham Beautiful does incredible work to protect Durham’s environmental beauty and this is an exciting event to showcase some of the many gardens throughout Durham. Tickets are on sale now, with an early bird rate of $20-25 until April 19th when the tickets will increase to $30.
Psst… If you made it this far in the newsletter, lucky you! You’re getting a sneak peak of one of the houses highlighted on this year’s annual home tour.
The Jones-Tate House, built in 1910, is a unique example of historic preservation! The house was cited for demolition in 2008 after it had sat vacant for some time, with the intention to build a larger building on the site property. With the help and dedication from local historic preservation-minded Durhamites, including John Schelp and Carrie Mowry, John Martin hired a company to physically move the home to its current location. Moving the house was a Durham spectacle, as many people came out to see the house hulled away on a truck to its new location. To see more of these photographs, check out the Open Durham page.
The Jones-Tate home was built by R.M. Hobgood, a postal clerk, and was bought by numerous individuals and entities over the years, including W.G. Tate in 1920 and Duke University in 1965. The century-old home represents a dedication to preservation of Durham history and what can happen when passionate individuals really behind a cause. You learn more about this house and to see it in person, including how it has been updated since its move at our 2025 Home Tour: The Golden Anniversary, where we are celebrating the connection between history and preservation by highlighting numerous homes from our almost plaque program!
We are excited to announce that the 3019 Fayetteville Chicken Hut location is now on Open Durham! Following our submission of the local landmark status nomination last month, we used the research we conducted for that application to detail the importance and historical legacy of this business within the Durham community on Open Durham. Through our research we identified the legacy of the Chicken Hut as a site for community gathering for political activism and support during the Civil Rights sit-ins of the 1960s and beyond.
Open Durham relies on community collaboration to add historical buildings, events, and individuals to our website. Through comments and page submissions, community involvement brings attention to untold stories and demonstrates what our community finds valuable in Durham’s history. Feel free to include your own stories about the Chicken Hut in the comments, which is good practice for the community support we need as the nomination process continues through public hearings.
Local events and news from us and our partners in preservation you may be interested in.
- Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. April 3-6. “The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of nonfiction cinema. Each spring, Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic downtown Durham, North Carolina, for a four-day, morning-to-midnight array of nearly 100 films, as well as discussions, panels, and Southern hospitality." Learn more here.
- Pauli Murray: Writing the Path to Equality. April 9, 6-7pm. “This session introduces the life and legacy of Pauli Murray, a pioneering writer, lawyer, activist, and Durhamite whose work shaped civil rights and gender equality, with a special focus on Murray's authorship. Lead by Angela Thorpe Mason, Executive Director of the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice." Learn more here.
- Downtown Durham Inc: Downtown Durham Blueprint 2035. April 23, 3:30-6pm. Learn more here.
- Keep Durham Beautiful Second Annual Garden Tour. April 26 and 27. Join Keep Durham Beautiful as they host their second annual garden tour, highlighting some of the beautiful gardens throughout our Durham community. Buy tickets here.
- Durham Planning Academy Sessions. May 2 and 3. Registration due March 14th.
- Preservation Durham Cocktails and Cornices. April-September. We’re bringing our Cocktail and Cornices program back, with a monthly tour from April-September! This is a free event for Preservation Durham members and $12 per ticket for the general public. Buy tickets here.
- Preservation Durham 2025 Annual Meeting and Home Tour Lecture. May 13th, 5:30-7:00 pm. The Carolina Theatre. Free! Our annual meeting will be coupled with our home tour lecture, moderated by Alicia Hylton-Daniel. The first half of the event will be our annual meeting where we will discuss what we have accomplished in the past year and what we have coming up this year. Our home tour lecture will follow, as local historians, researchers, and homeowners on the home tour discuss Preservation Durham’s plaque program and what they have learned about historic properties in Durham. Register here.
- Preservation Durham 2025 Home Tour: The Golden Anniversary. May 17th and 18th, 12 pm to 4 pm each day. $40 Early Bird for general public and $30 for Preservation Durham members until May 1st. $50 general public and $40 for Preservation Durham after. Join us as we celebrate our plaque program with nine houses varying in architectural style, date built, and histories! Buy tickets here.
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