Preservation Durham is delighted to welcome Caitlin Avinger as our new Executive Director.
A Durham local with a lifelong passion for history, education, and community, Caitlin comes to us from the City of Durham's Cultural Heritage and Parks division and previously served at Duke Homestead. Her experience also includes educational leadership roles at the Houston Maritime Museum and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
What stood out immediately during our search was Caitlin's genuine love for preserving history and sharing the stories that connect us to one another. Her warmth, curiosity, and belief that everyone has a place in Durham's story make her a natural fit for Preservation Durham.
We are excited for Caitlin to lead the organization into its next chapter and look forward to the energy, vision, and community spirit she brings to this work. Please join us in giving her a warm welcome!
~ Amanda Boyd, President of the Board of Directors
City of Durham staff recommended the approval of designating the Cranford-Wannamaker House as a local historic landmark. “The Cranford-Wannamaker House is associated with persons and events that have made a significant contribution to the broader patterns of Durham’s history.” The Queen Anne Victorian style house was built in 1891 for Trinity College faculty. The Trinity Park home on Faculty Row was named for Dr. William Ivey Cranford and Dr. William Hane Wannamaker, who each served as college dean.
The house was chosen from a pattern book “Modern Houses: Beautiful Homes” by Robert Shoppell. was moved in 1916, on logs pulled by horses, to accommodate widening roads. The original home had a turreted dome tower and Dutch lap siding and elaborate wood siding shingles. It was one of the earliest homes in Durham with indoor plumbing.
This year, in partnership with NC Modernist, Preservation Durham is delighted to bring you a fall tour, the Harkrader Home Tour. From 1972-2000, Richard and Lonna Harkrader founded, owned and operated New Morning Construction and New Morning Realty, two businesses that built numerous passive solar, energy efficient homes and apartments with a unique architectural style in and around the Morehead Hill neighborhood of Durham.
Join us for a social hour in celebration of the Harkraders on October 9th from
6:30-8:30 at The Wine Feed. Then learn more about the solar passive style of
homes by visiting six Harkrader properties during the Harkrader Home Tour on
October 10th from 9am-3pm.
Presenting Partner
Preservation Partner
George Watts Hill Circle
Preservation Friends
Located in Hillsborough NC, the Historic Russell School is the only surviving Rosenwald School in Durham County, making it a unique cultural landmark in our community. The site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. “This year marks a once‑in‑a‑lifetime milestone, the centennial of the last remaining Rosenwald School in Durham County, a living testament to education, resilience, and community.”
“In the early 20th century, segregation in the rural South denied Black children access to formal education. To bring education to these children, countless individuals worked together to build Rosenwald Schools. Two leaders in this movement were Booker T. Washington, an educator and principal of the Tuskegee Institute, and Julius Rosenwald, a philanthropist. From 1913 to 1932, they teamed up with local communities across the South to build thousands of Rosenwald Schools.”
Preservation Durham award nominations are open!
Do you know of a person, organization, or project that exemplifies great historic preservation and/or education in the Durham community? Nominate them for a Preservation Durham award! Nominations will be open until July 31, 2026. Nominations will be evaluated by committee on how well they address community support, preservation best practices, diversity, equity, inclusion, creativity, innovation, and impact. We’ll celebrate the winners at our annual awards and preservation party in November.
Preservation North Carolina Annual Honor Awards Winner
Gateway Building Company of Durham is the 2026 recipient of the L. Vincent Lowe Jr. Business Award, presented by Preservation North Carolina. Preservation North Carolina's annual Honor Awards recognize outstanding people, projects, businesses, and organizations in the field of historic preservation. The 2026 Honor Awards will be presented during Preservation North Carolina's Annual Conference in High Point, October 25-27. Congratulations to Gateway for their great work!
1304 Fayetteville Street was a center of the Fayetteville Street Historic Corridor throughout the twentieth century. The property was home to J.L. Page Grocery, eventually J.L. Page and Sons Grocery, operated by James Lewis Page and his family. The store opened in1907 and was one of the oldest operating grocery stores in Durham. J.L. opened the business based on the belief that “if a Black man was going to be free, he ought to be self-employed.” This was a central belief held in the Fayetteville Street Corridor, home to many crucial institutions owned by and serving Durham’s African American community, including North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University), Lincoln Hospital, and the Biltmore Hotel. This community reliance ensured that African Americans did not have to depend on white power structures for support. Instead, they built up wealth and resources for and by African Americans, leading to the creation of the self-sustaining, prosperous Hayti community.
The grocery store was a small “country store,” but had a mighty impact as the Pages supported many of their community members by operating under a credit-based system. This system was especially beneficial during the Great Depression, when many people struggled to afford even basic necessities. Since the store wasn’t guaranteed to bring in enough income to support the Page family, J.L. would often peddle produce throughout the area on a horse and buggy. The grocery store remained true to its original structure and purpose throughout its history. Little changed in the store throughout the years, including the nearly 100-year-old cash register, a hallmark feature of the store. One of the few changes that did occur included a butcher’s shop addition during World War II, which was no longer in use before the store closed. One side of the structure was designated for the grocery store, and on the other side, J.L.’s wife, Pearl, cooked the family meals on an old wooden stove.
The Herald-Sun, Sunday, March 18, 1979
Many of the goods sold at the grocery store were cultivated by the Page family, including vegetables, dairy products, and livestock. One of J.L. Page’s favorite products was watermelons, which he believed were “about one of the finest things you could sell.” The Pages strictly prohibited of the sale of alcohol. The store was open Monday-Saturday, courtesy of Pearl, who shut down J.L’s attempt to sell ice cream on Sundays, the Sabbath.
When J.L. Page passed away in 1942, Pearl took over running the business, with two of the Page sons, James Waverly Page and William Douglas “Biddie” Page, eventually co-owning the store. The store was a family operation, with all four of the Page children helping out, even their only daughter, Lois, whom J.L. did not like working at the store because he deemed it unsuitable for girls. Their third child, Benjamin, while having a career outside of the grocery store, also helped support the family business. Pearl passed away in 1973, and Biddie in 1979. J.W.’s wife, Margaret Juanita Page, helped run the grocery store, especially after Pearl and Biddie passed. J.W. retired from the business at age 88.
The Herald-Sun, Thursday March 20, 1997
We are excited to announce the installation of our first plaque in collaboration with Hayti Promise CDC for the Fayetteville Street Corridor Project! On June 23rd, we installed the Tuten-Lyon-Mitchell House plaque for the Mitchell family. The home has been in their family ownership for almost 100 years, and they have honored this legacy through their dedicated stewardship of the home.
Check out the plaque application on Open Durham to learn more about The Tuten-Lyon-Mitchell home’s history. This is the first of up to 60 plaques that Preservation Durham and Hayti Promise CDC will be installing along the historic Fayetteville Street Corridor. We are honored to celebrate the history of the Tuten-Lyon-Mitchell home through our historic plaque program, and are excited to continue to honor numerous properties along the Fayetteville Street Historic Corridor.
Local events and news from us and our partners in preservation you may be interested in.
- The Carolina Theatre is celebrating 100 years with events across Durham. The theater houses three history exhibits, one on each floor of its historic showplace on West Morgan Street.
- Volunteer with Keep Durham Beautiful to remove harmful invasive plants from local parks. Wear sturdy, closed-toed shoes or boots, pants and long sleeves, and bring a reusable water bottle. Tools and gloves will be provided, and we encourage volunteers with their own labeled pruners and saws to bring them.
- Book Harvest’s beloved Summer Block Party promotes a joyful community-wide culture of literacy in Durham, celebrating summer reading and providing children of all ages with an abundance of books to help keep learning alive in summer. Saturday, 7/18, 3-6pm at Durham Central Park.
- Historic Stagville Frederick Douglass community reading on 7/4. Frederick Douglass' speech remains one of the most famous abolitionist texts in United States history. The speech resonates today, inviting all to reflect on the United States' founding ideals and our shared history of slavery and freedom.
- Explore the rich history of Durham at historic Maplewood Cemetery on Saturday, July 11th, 9-11am. Staff will discuss the significance of symbols on headstones, teach the technique of headstone etchings, and provide information about how to explore other cemeteries in Durham.
- Harkrader Home Tour on October 10th, 9am - 3pm. This is a special year, as we’re hosting a second home tour! The Harkrader Home Tour is in partnership with NC Modernist and will feature six passive solar, energy efficient homes.
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