There is a lot to explore in the Durham area, and since moving here in July I think I've done a pretty good job familiarizing myself with the downtown areas of each city in the Triangle. I'm beginning to rely less on my GPS, which is a good sign, but more importantly I've found the places that I can call my own. At some point in this series of new blogs you'll learn about some of these places and what makes them so special to me, but first I want to share my moment of inspiration and the hidden gem that seeded this new series.
It was a gorgeous, sunny, day in Durham and I was running errands for work. I had just gotten back after being out of town for a couple of weeks and as I walked around downtown Durham, soaking in the sunshine and familiar sights and sounds, I felt as though the city was giving me a big welcome home hug. Come to think of it, I was probably grinning like an idiot. I couldn't find parking out front of Dos Perros, so I took a side road and ended up parking somewhere behind the restaurant. This was a great move! There, in front of me, was a gorgeous church - Trinity United Methodist Church and a parking space. You're probably thinking that the church was my inspiration, but not this time. I will have to snap a photo of it though because it is truly a beautiful, old church dating back to the 1880's when Durham was just being established. Anyway, I digress... I noticed an alleyway and figured that I could go around the back of Dos Perros rather than walking around the block. Well that alleyway opened up into a parking lot and this:
How cool is that wall?! I just want to put a spotlight on it and hold a block party in that parking lot! I actually mentioned that to my boss and she kind of liked the idea so that could actually happen, but anyway, judging by those logos, that wall was likely painted with those advertisements in the early 1900's. Durham is just full of vintage advertisement art and I'm eager to find them all, but another favorite is this:
You'll have to click on the image and view it larger to actually see the advertisements. I do have to add a disclaimer here though, one of my favorite blogs, Endangered Durham, alerted me to the fact that "Find Your Cool" was painted on that wall in the last decade. It was purposely painted in a way that makes it look vintage, but it is not some long standing slogan for Durham that was painted in the early 20th century. It is actually a new slogan created by Downtown Durham, Inc. not the city of Durham, which is the City of Medicine. However, the Clothiers, W.A. Slather Co. and Kola adds are originals that have been restored. Despite the controversy surrounding the new slogan, I think that it adds character to a very old building.
Most of the buildings in Durham were built between 1890 and 1920 when the American Tobacco industry was taking off. Much more on this subject in later blog posts. However, one thing I did want to point out is that if you look in the background of the picture above, you'll see the Sun Trust building. You can't quite tell from this picture but if you look closely it bares a striking resemblance to a very famous New York City Skyscraper... The Empire State Building. The New York based architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon designed both buildings. Interesting huh?
Love this!! What a cool building you found! :)
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