Durham, ca. 1939

Posted on July 6, 2007 
Filed Under images, video

Below is a clip showing what traffic looked like on Main St. in either 1939 or 1941. I first saw this clip when Main St. was a one-way street, and it looked odd to me. Only the volume of traffic in the flim looks odd to me now that Durham has re-opened Main St. to traffic in both directions.

This clip is shot from two angles but both (I believe) are from what is now the Self-Help building at the corner of Main and Corcoran. The first half is looking west, and the building on the right (north) side of the street with the arches is the Trust Building. In the second half of the clip, the camera is pointed at “the Angier corner,” the intersection of Main and Mangum.

Filmed by H. Lee Waters, this clip is from “Durham: 1939-1943″

H. Lee Waters was a studio photographer from Lexington, NC in the early part of the 20th century. During the Great Depression, he shuttered his studio and hit the road to earn a living. He owned a 16mm video camera and a projector. He traveled to towns (117 in all) throughout NC, SC, VA, and TN; set up his camera; and captured street life on film. He would return home to edit the film, then revisit the town with a final cut. He presented his films in local movie houses, charging admission for townsfolk to see themselves on the silver screen.

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