[Durham INC] Neighborhoods Hike: West Durham, East Campus & beyond (April 9)

[John Schelp]

Urban Hike: West Durham, East Campus & beyond

Saturday, April 9 at 9:00 AM
Meet at Ninth & Green (free)

Why do neighborhoods change so quickly in Durham? What song writer for Norah Jones and Lou Rawls was "born on a kitchen table" behind Magnolia Grill? Where did Madonna take early dance lessons? What Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist went to EK Powe school? Why is Ninth Street called Ninth Street? Where did the father of Duke basketball live? Why wasn't Duke Chapel built in Walltown?

Come along and find out...

Three-mile loop starts at Ninth & Green (next to EK Powe & White Star).

We'll start with the South Ellerbe Creek Nature Area and continue through an old mill village. We'll see an old liquor house, a parsonage ordered from a Sears catalogue and a quiet urban garden in Old West Durham.

We'll continue up Oakland, past Oval Park, in the Watts-Hillandale neighborhood and past the old Watts Hospital.

We'll go down a hidden alley and see where a famous songwriter was born. We'll head over to Walltown and hear about Duke's original plans to build here. Then we'll go past Richard Nixon's house in Trinity Heights and continue past the homes of Duke's famous faculty and coaches on Buchanan (including Cap Card, the father of Duke basketball -- and Wallace Wade, whose bowl games paid for Cameron Indoor Stadium).

We'll go down Watts Street, past Trinity Park park, and see where Kevin Costner was filmed in his boxers. Then we'll head across East Campus to Ninth Street, past Erwin Cotton Mills and back to where we started.

You'll see a little nature and learn some Durham history on the route. We might even get into current events in the Bull City.

Local history lover John Schelp will narrate along the way. No need to register. Parking is available on streets near Ninth and Green.

More history & old street map... http://www.owdna.org/selfguidedtourOWD.htm

Slide-show of last year's walking tour... http://www.flickr.com/photos/dukedurham/sets/72157623837857952

Co-sponsored by Sierra Club, GoTriangle, Clean Energy Durham and the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association.