[Durham INC] Neighborhoods Hike: West Durham, East Campus & beyond (Sun, April 27)

[John Schelp]

Neighborhoods Hike: West Durham, East Campus & beyond


Sunday, April 27 at 1pm
Meet at Ninth
 & Green (free)

* Why do neighborhoods change so quickly in Durham?

* What song writer for Lou Rawls was "born on a kitchen table" near Broad Street?

* Why wasn't Duke Chapel built in Walltown?

* Where did Elvis sleep incognito, in a caboose?


* Where did Madonna take early dance lessons?


* Who wrote "The Gambler" for Kenny Rogers -- and lived in a mill house on 9th Street?

* What Pulitzer Prize winner attended EK Powe school?


* Why is Ninth Street called Ninth Street?

* Why was Duke Hospital built on top of Durham's old bone yard -- and not in Trinity Park?


* Where, near East Campus, was Kevin Costner spotted in his boxer shorts?

Come along and find out...

Three-mile loop starts at Ninth & Green -- at the old stone steps by EK Powe Elementary (aka West Durham High School).

We'll start with the South Ellerbe Creek Nature Area and continue through an old mill village. We'll see an old liquor house, Buck Dean's bungalow, a Sears House and a quiet urban garden in Old West Durham.

We'll continue into the Watts-Hillandale neighborhood and walk past Oval Park and the old Watts Hospital.

We'll go down a hidden alley and see where a songwriter for Norah Jones, Lou Rawls and Jefferson Airplane was born. We'll head over to Walltown and hear about Duke's original plans to build here. Then we'll go by 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 Mr. 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 & Green. (Bike racks are also nearby.)


Optional post-tour gathering at Dain's Place at 754 Ninth Street -- for a cold drink and further conversation.

Co-sponsored by Museum of Durham History, Sierra Club and the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association. Rain or shine.


Feedback & photos from local author on last year's outing...


Standing ovation for John Schelp's Neighborhood Hike



After having John Schelp's annual Neighborhood Hike on my list for, um, a decade, I finally partook on Saturday. As I told John, I've been on a lot of bad tours and a few great ones, and his was definitely in the "awesome" category. It attracted some 150 people (crazy!), and we even had a serendipitous appearance by Durham Bulls mascot Wool E. Bull. 


We walked about 3 miles, from Old West to Watts-Hillandale, Trinity Park, Duke East Campus, and Ninth Street. At the end, John received a standing ovation (OK, so we were already standing). After 2.5 hours, I was left wanting more! Don't wait a decade like I did, though you will have to wait another 11 months or so. 

Here's link to some of the pics my partner Lina took...

https://picasaweb.google.com/kokwessel/20130413_NeighborhoodHikeWestDurhamEastCampus?authkey=Gv1sRgCNXl7_q5h8WGZA

Thank you, John!!!!
 
Diane (April 2013)
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